Paula Guran
The Woeful Writer
A compendium of quotations concerning the "vocation of unhappiness"
Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness. -- George Simenon (1903-1985)
It is also said that writing is a lonely profession and that misery
loves company. Here's a book that supplies quotable commiseration
for the lonely writer's misery.
Motivation, inspiration, wisdom, and uplifting adages can be
found in many aphoristic
collections, but The Woeful Writer provides comfort
and hilarity in a
volume full of the worst that has been said about writers,
writing, and the world of books. Share the pain and pass the pithy, you'll feel a lot better for it.
This plodding occupation of bookes is as painfull as any other, and as great an enemie unto health, which ought principally to be considered. -- Montaigne
Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo. -- Don Marquis
A ratio of failures is built into the process of writing. The wastebasket has evolved for a reason. -- Margaret Atwood
Writing is the hardest way of earning a living, with the possible exception of wrestling alligators. --Olin Miller
