Ursula Le Guin is probably best known for her sci-fi and fantasy, but she also wrote poetry, creative nonfiction, and literary fiction. She won numerous awards for her work, and today, we share a few Ursula Le Guin quotes on writing to inspire you to keep working toward your literary dream.
Photo by Marian Wood Kolisch, modified by The Write Practice
I've been reading Ursula Le Guin for a long time, since I first discovered The Earthsea Cycle, which reinvigorated my love for fantasy.
She's also famous for her science-fiction, especially The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, and was one of the first to show the world that women can not only write great science fiction, they can often do it better than men.
Le Guin was a “genre” writer who constantly pushed the boundaries of what we think of as genre. Besides sci-fi and fantasy, she wrote poetry, creative nonfiction, and literary fiction.
We first shared her writing wisdom on The Write Practice back in 2014 when she was honored with the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters at the National Book Awards. It's also just one of many awards she received throughout her career.
I honestly believe she will go down in history as one of the greatest writers, literary or otherwise, of the 20th century.
Ursula Le Guin's Quotes on Writing
With that in mind, here are ten quotes from Ursula Le Guin on her process as a writer:
1. “Show, Don't Tell” Is for Beginners
From ursulakleguin.com:
Thanks to “show don’t tell,” I find writers in my workshops who think exposition is wicked. They’re afraid to describe the world they’ve invented. … This dread of writing a sentence that isn’t crammed with “gutwrenching action” leads fiction writers to rely far too much on dialogue, to restrict voice to limited third person and tense to the present.
2. So Is “Write What You Know”
From ursulakleguin.com:
As for “Write what you know,” I was regularly told this as a beginner. I think it’s a very good rule and have always obeyed it. I write about imaginary countries, alien societies on other planets, dragons, wizards, the Napa Valley in 22002. I know these things. I know them better than anybody else possibly could, so it’s my duty to testify about them.
3. Do Your Job as a Writer, and Do it Really Well
From Paris Review:
But when people say, Did you always want to be a writer?, I have to say no! I always was a writer (tweet that, emphasis mine). I didn’t want to be a writer and lead the writer’s life and be glamorous and go to New York. I just wanted to do my job writing, and to do it really well.
4. Shoot for the Top, Always.
From Paris Review:
When asked what authors she measures her work against, Le Guin says:
Charles Dickens. Jane Austen. And then, when I finally learned to read her, Virginia Woolf. Shoot for the top, always. You know you’ll never make it, but what’s the fun if you don’t shoot for the top? (tweet that)
5. Write Like Who You Are
From Paris Review:
Hey, guess what? You’re a woman. You can write like a woman. I saw that women don’t have to write about what men write about, or write what men think they want to read. I saw that women have whole areas of experience men don’t have — and that they’re worth writing and reading about.
6. Learn From the Greats
From Paris Review:
It was Borges and Calvino who made me think, Hey, look at what they’re doing! Can I do that?
7. Writing Is All About Learning to See
From Paris Review:
A very good book tells me news, tells me things I didn’t know, or didn’t know I knew, yet I recognize them — yes, I see, yes, this is how the world is. Fiction — and poetry and drama — cleanse the doors of perception. (tweet that)
I love this, by the way. It reminds me of Oscar Wilde's quote, “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
8. Begin Your Story With a Voice
From Paris Review:
How should you begin your story?
With a voice. With a voice in the ear. That first page I wrote, which the novel progressed from, is simply Lavinia speaking to us — including me, apparently.
9. Focus on the Rhythm of the Story
From Paris Review:
I want the story to have a rhythm that keeps moving forward. Because that’s the whole point of telling a story. You’re on a journey — you’re going from here to there. It’s got to move. Even if the rhythm is very complicated and subtle, that’s what’s going to carry the reader.
10. Don't Waste Time
From Paris Review:
And one of [the things you learn as you get older] is, you really need less … My model for this is late Beethoven. He moves so strangely and quite suddenly sometimes from place to place in his music, in the late quartets. He knows where he’s going and he just doesn’t want to waste all that time getting there. … One is aware of this as one gets older. You can’t waste time.
How about you? What do you love about Ursula Le Guin? What has she taught you about writing? Let us know in the comments.
PRACTICE
Use tip #5 and write like who you really are. Write like a woman or a man or an American or an alien or an Ursula Le Guin or a Joe Bunting. Write just as you are.
Write for fifteen minutes. When your time is up, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop here. And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to a few other writers.
Happy writing!
Thank you Joe for this post. I LOVE LOVE Ursula’s writing, and these tips make me feel as it might be possible in some galaxy that I could write a tenth as well as she does. Thank you!
Perhaps in THIS galaxy, Beca!
Thanks for encouragement.
MLF
Thank you Joe!
I think you already do….
Jet – thank you!!!
Of COURSE she has the best writing advice. I recently re-read “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” and it’s even more brilliant than when I read it as a 13/14 yo. These are amazing, Joe.
Isn’t it amazing that she wrote one of the most widely read/taught short stories AND all that “genre” fiction? She’s so flexible. It inspires me. Thanks for the comment Effie!
Who says being a rabble-rouser is not feminine? My hat is off to women who creep by night, if
necessary, to get around the bullshit of how it sposed to be. What about those women pretending to drink
tea in the darling tea house the Commodore built for them, where instead they
were turning out material in support of the vote for women. And I am unable to forget anyone or any group
who actually make changes – like the police dept. written about long ago in
Mirabella, the one that offered to teach any woman to shoot if she would only
come down to the police target range.
When I read the story, the rate of rape in Atlanta was down 80%. That’s 80 percent! No one knew which women went done there, and
the women didn’t even have to buy a gun.
But the word was out – maybe it ain’t safe any more. If we can’t rape our own women, who’s in
charge? Whose town is this anyway. I don’t think I’ll ever be too old to remember
that. Nor too old to smirk at the fact
that no clips about them seem to have made it onto the web. Now suppose every town with a college put
that offer in the paper. Co-eds come on
down, spend an hour, and knock this rape culture on its ass. It is okay to say NO, and back up that NO.
I wonder who would be brave.
Or have the guts of those tea-drinking suffragettes been bred out of
us? What if Bubba is over there in
training camp deciding to tell you he’d better not catch you with a gun? You
can get a UPS label and send that ring or that frat pin back by mail.
Haha right on, Margaret! Loved this!
This is an excellent list of tips. Ms Le Guin is certainly a rule breaker which in part is what makes her work so unusual. Feeling constrained in your writing will always stop you from writing freely. But I also think we need to truly understand the rules to break them successfully.
Agreed on both counts. It was interesting reading her Paris Review interview (linked above), because it made me see her less as a rule breaker and more as someone who got tired of one set of rules (e.g. sci-fi) and decided to switch them for another set (e.g. poetry) and then another (e.g. fantasy) and then another (e.g. creative non-fiction), if that makes sense.
It does make sense as they all have their own constraints. All right I’m convinced – I have to go & read the full interview:-)
Haha good! Let me know what you think!
What a fascinating interview! I got such a sense that she was entirely her own woman and that while she challenged herself continuously, she has done what she has wanted to do and to hell with whoever didn’t like it. But as a writer I particularly liked her notion of story coming from one small voice in your head. To me that broke down the walls of needing masses of information- plot arc, character src, subplot etc etc – before you even get started. As she says towards the end, keep it simple. Thanks Joe for the post & encouraging me to read the interview:-)
Ha! I love #2. 🙂 I just watched her acceptance speech yesterday and loved it. Very inspiring.
Wasn’t it great? She’s a philosopher.
I love Ursula Le Guin. Here’s a fan letter for her. From me. Writing as myself.
Ursula … How can I want to write like me when I’ve read you. Even your titles were evocative. The Tombs of Atuan. The Wizard of Earthsea. Everything has a true name, that’s what the young wizard of Earthsea learnt. It must be half a century now since I first read that book and still I remember that nugget. I say this to my son, born deaf, repeatedly. Things have names. They’re not just the memory of a shape moving, the feel of a hand against a cheek. To remember, the picture, the touch, must have a name. There must be a word for that which is. To live in the community of the hearing, you must use words, I tell my son. And yet we know, you too, words cannot be enough. As humans, we need that smell, that taste, that hand in ours, those lips against our own. So wh, I wonder after all these years do I still remain enamoured of your words. And how, I wonder, can I ever ever create magic like yours.
I loved reading this, odds. Also, what a fun practice this would be, write a letter to your favorite author?
BRILLAINT #HUGSSSSS
No.5 is indeed my favorite. While emulating your role models is fine, it is more important to weave your prose with the wonderful eccentricities of your personality! 🙂
Thank you so much…
Kitto
I read her book, and honestly… she should go back to learning how to write.
Number 1 is why her book is honestly crap. When I read a novel, I want a story, I want a plot, and I want characters to be developed. It is hypocritical of her complaining about Shawn Ashmore, when she didn’t even properly expand, and described Ged.
In the first 150 pages, she spends more time describing the world, and saying “Ged did this, he did that” instead of letting him interact with the world, and letting the readers interact with her world. She had no story, Her plot could have been great, if she actually focused on it, instead of describing all the lands of Earthsea, that Ged doesn’t even visit, and have little implication on the story. In fact, she asserted that Ged was arrogant in the beginning, but didn’t even show HOW he was arrogant.
She just says “Show, don’t tell” is for beginners in order to explain her quackery. She wants to tell us about a grand wizard that changed the world… Then let us see the story, instead of just saying “he did this and that.” in 6-7 chapters, all there was of characters interacting with the world and each other, there was maximum 5 pages. Out of 150 pages. One can show a world, by letting the readers play with the world, instead of telling us how it is.
Number 2 explains why so many people get turned off at various types of shows. A lot of cops get turned off at cop dramas, because protocol isn’t respected. As a writer myself, I’ve had to learn so much about certain things, so that I can write it, and not shun a reader that knows a lot more in the topic.
For example, if I were to describe how a medieval military campaign would work, I’d need to learn how to do it, cause if I just wrote it by the seat of my pants without learning about it, I’m sure there would be quite a few medieval historians that would comment on the inaccuracies that I pulled, and I would hope that I can do some kick ass writing in order to let them forgive me for my uneducated arrogance.
Number 3… Maybe if there was some order in her stories, instead of a jumbled up mess that worked better in the live action series, as they put order in it that made sense, without her anti-climactic 5 second hug endscene, she’d be able to preach about this. But if Earthsea is the best she could brag about, then I’m not missing much with her. I want more than just a dull Dungeons and Dragons Module to read. I want a story.
Number 4… Of course I intend to do that. If she can win awards with her lackluster “Storytelling”, then I know what I’m doing next year.
Number 5: But who is Ged? Who is Ogion? I don’t care about Le Guin. When I want to read a book, I want to know who these characters are. When you get a thorough description of Ged in book 2, when he is nothing but a side character, instead of book 1, when he is the primary protagonist, there is a problem, and one loses permission to bitch about the race of the actor playing him.
Also, it explains a lot about the boring writing style, that’s nothing but a geography book, instead of a fantasy novel. Must be because of something else.
As for 6, good advice (For once), The only thing I can take from Le Guin, is what not to do as a writer. I want to take my audience on a journey, on an adventure. I don’t want a dull, detached history lesson. She shouldn’t have been trying to detach herself from the hero’s journey that Campbell put together.
Number 7 sounds poetic, but contradicts Number 1. She wants us to see, but she doesn’t want to show a story? Let us see the marvels of the fictional world! There’s a celebration at Sparrowhawk’s School? What does he do during that festival? “He enjoyed the festival” then its over? How can we see the festival, when you don’t show us?
Number 8 sounds truthful… But too bad there were no characters to voice their voices in Earthsea.
Number 9 would be good advice… if it wasn’t so hypocritical of Le Guin saying “How to tell a story…” when she doesn’t know how to, to begin with! You don’t spend 7 chapters describing the world, only to have 3 chapters to tell the story in the end! There was no rhythm to her tales…
Number 10 is absolutely hilarious. She really should have taken her own advice on this matter. She wasted so much time describing needless details in Wizard of Earthsea, such as the invader’s home island, when it played no role in that book, and when that took precedence over Ged’s fight against them, (Which lasted but a couple of paragraphs, compared to the pages telling us how the invaders looked like and lived) it really does waste time in story telling.
We could have easily cut out 150 pages of the “novel” and it would be a lot more gripping, telling and probably wonderful. Writing Duny, Ged and Sparrowhawk felt very tedious for Le Guin to write, when I read her book. I don’t care if she thinks Ged is arrogant, I don’t want her opinion. I want to see his behaviour (And here we see her hypocritical contradiction in number 1 and 7… But then again, she is a feminist, so that shouldn’t surprise me…)
Why did I read it? I had to choose between “Wizard of Earthsea” and “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” for a class assignment, and rewrite the last chapter, and I chose Le Guin’s work. I was expecting an adventure worth telling and sharing, from all the praise it was getting. I sat down, and I read her opinions on behaviours, Ogion doing nothing to teach Ged the wisdom of magic, and a boring geography lesson, instead of letting Ged see the world with his own two eyes, with the readers seeing that world with awe… And yet she claims that Rowling doesn’t know how to write. At least we can give Harry Potter a physical description, and tell us about his personality… Unlike Duny/Ged.
What did I learn from Le Guin? Well, I guess what I got from it that can help improve my craft, is that the number one thing that writers need to learn, is to “show, don’t tell.” That is a very important thing that beginners and experts both need to learn. This overrated novel taught me that characters need personalities. My opinions don’t matter, but my characters matter. Writing a story is supposed to bring the readers on an emotional journey, to feel every vibrant piece of sentiment that the readers can imagine. Joy, anger, sadness, rage, grief, laughter, tears. All this plus more. This “Story” that made me feel cheated of my time reading this… these jarbled words that describe landscapes… taught me the importance of a writer’s heart in their craft.
I’m sorry A Wizard of Earthsea didn’t resonate with you. I loved it. In fact, when I finished it, I said, “This is my favorite book. I have never had a favorite book before, but now I do.” I hope other readers will take the time to read the book themselves instead of relying on one person’s run-in with it.
Some of your points have merit, but I feel some of them don’t (and I only post this so other readers won’t be afraid to try the book, not because I’m dying to prove you wrong). I’m not going to address everything you said, but I do want to hit some of the main points. Yes, there was a lack of physical description of Ged, but I liked it that way. Physical description is not necessary for a good character. (Side note: did you know Legolas from Lord of the Rings is never described?) In fact, it can get annoying. I don’t want to read about blue eyes, I want to read about what the character sees with those eyes. I don’t care about long legs, I want to see where he goes with them. I think it was Stephen King who said, “Skip the stuff the reader will skip anyway.”
You said le Guin didn’t show how Ged was arrogant, but his early interactions with Ogion, the scene with the book, and the happenings at the festival all made that clear. She does reveal his personality, apparently not to the extent you wanted, but she does nonetheless.
Keep in mind that the name of the series is Earthsea, not Ged, so the change in protagonists from book to book makes sense. (I agree that the second book – and I’ve only read the first two – was strange, but sequels are always bad for me.) The Chronicles of Narnia series changes protagonists several times, but the series is about Narnia, not the Pevensies, so it works.
I do like your point about needing to know what you’re writing about. That’s very true (although it’s also true that no one here has ever known a dragon). Thanks for pointing that out.
Le Guin left out the festival and Ogion’s magic lessons because they weren’t what was important. Would you really want to read a book that rambled on for miles of pages about magic lessons before getting to the point? The point of the story was actually not Ged’s gaining of power but Ged’s overcoming of his darkness. In a way, the story’s about all of us (at least from a Christian perspective). I don’t know what le Guin believes, but maybe that’s why she didn’t develop Ged to the extent you desired – so we could see ourselves in him.
“Writing a story is supposed to bring the readers on an emotional journey, to feel every vibrant piece of sentiment that the readers can imagine.” That is one possible purpose for a piece of writing, but it is not the only purpose. “Also, it explains a lot about the boring writing style…” you said. Boring to you, perhaps. Yes, it will not reach out and grab you. The book will not hook you and force you to read it. If that’s what you want, look elsewhere. But to someone who reads a lot and who’s been reading a lot for a long time (not saying that you don’t and aren’t, only that I do and have), it was nice to have a book that actually meant something. “We could have easily cut out 150 pages of the ‘novel’ and it would be a lot more gripping, telling and probably wonderful,” you said. But the point of a novel is not to be gripping (bear with me), especially not this kind of novel, and I love it all the more because it’s not. You can only read so much flashy writing that has little or no substance. I for one would trade in the book that I “can’t put down” for the book I am forced to put down (because it blew my mind and I need a moment to take in what the author said) any day.
Thank you for reading. Respectfully, Kellen
Oh, wow, I didn’t realize how long this is. XD
Thank you for the respectful reply.
Well, I can respect that you enjoyed it. I much preferred the movie version.
I haven’t really taken an interest in Lord of the Rings, so I couldn’t say. Tried, but some of the panoramic descriptions overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t pick it back up. And I know this may tie into one of the other concerns, but describing the festivals, can enrichen the world Ged takes part in, can help with the immersive feel of the story. It also helps us get to know who the hero is, as he sees, feels, smells, tastes and hears around him, and how he sees the world. I know I’ve read Dragonlance, Tanis can be quite the narrator, but he can be an unreliable narrator. Sometimes, when he judges Raistlin, it lets us in his head, and we get to know who Tanis Half-Elven is. And the unreliable narrator, enriches the story. Youthful impatience is part of every boy’s life. And sometimes, it felt like Le Guin was judging how boys interacts with others, and the small boasts with each other, and she said it was arrogant, and we have to take her word for it. It would be like if I wrote about how girls get passive aggressive with each other, and in a narration, said that it was catty, immature, and arrogant, without considering all sides of this. How a person interacts about the world, and how they see the world can tell a lot about the person. I don’t want to be just told how things are. I want an adventure.
I don’t mind the shift in character, but when we are just introduced to Ged, as we see the real story start in chapter 6 or 7 of 10, it felt like I just started to get to know him. And a lost chance with the swift climax.
Thank you for the understanding post. Fascinating reply.
Nice to meet you.
Keiji555
Thanks for the article, Joe! I’ve only read two of le Guin’s books, but both of them blew (as in BLEW) my mind at least once. I really like #9 (Focus on the rhythm of the story). Yep, A Wizard of Earthsea definitely had some of that going on.
As I read throught the tips and considered which I might respond to, it was no. 5 that most caught my attention. So here goes. I am a woman and am writing a memoir. By definition a man can’t write the same story from the same perspective, so I WILL be writing as who I am. The reason for this particular memoir is twofold. It is firstly to inform my daughter and grandchildren of a period in my life when I was married and living in West Africa, amidst all the cultural difficulties that a European can encounter. On top of that, I experienced becoming embroiled in a civil war and escaped with my daughter, thus saving her life. The second reason for writing is to encourage others, including single parents who encounter hardships and difficult situations. It will speak to some about perseverence and hope, because it IS possible to survive, come out the other end and be all right. Also when times are tough, it may speak to others about the comparative level of their own problems, and find them beginning to recognise” it could be much worse!”
I hope all this makes sense.
I’ll confess I’ve never heard of Ursula Le Guin, so I have no opinion on her particular style or content. As I read through the quotes give, it sounds like a lot of her points are worth considering, especially the “learn from the greats.” A writer will never have any voice but their own, but I can really appreciate the skills that some writers have at wielding words effectively. The way Agatha Christie wove her sense of humor into almost every paragraph, for example.
I’m too down-to-earth for Sci-fi & Fantasy but, having read the comments pro and con offered here and being curious by nature, I think I’ll peek into one of this writer’s novels just to see if it’s as bad—or good–as what folks are saying. (Did she write anything about overly long sentences being okay after all?)
One point I do hope writers won’t take too much to heart is her first one. Long descriptions work in some genres, probably when you’re creating new worlds. In others they grate. I read one book where, in Chapter One, we got the scoop on the lady, present and past careers and relationships, her house and furnishings described in detail. She called her mother, so we got details of why she and her mother don’t get along and haven’t for years because… One whole chapter and the only action was getting out of bed and having one snarky phone conversation!
I guess no matter what rule or guideline some terrific author offers, there’s a ditch on either side of the road and some writers fall into it as they’re learning the craft.
Overly long and detailed descriptions drive me to distraction. I want to scream, “EDIT.” at the pages. For years, I could not read George R.R. Martin because of this. Then I realized one thing. If you only read a book once through, you will miss most of the really good stuff. An artist once wrote don’t paint the sun. Paint the sunshine. That’s what I will continue to strive for until I can write no more. By the way, sometimes a long sentence with a complex structure is the only way to get things done. Then edit it to the essence, if you dare. Established writers, artists and musicians break the rules all the time. They have the experience to know when and how and why. As for me, my well-thumbed Strunk and White is about all the style I can handle.
May your words flow like water and may your readers not drown in them.
Nice writing, very worth for reading and thanks for sharing!
Write as I really am. What does that even mean? What am I?
Well, there are all sorts of labels you can apply to me – woman, mother, grandmother, daughter, grand-daughter, writer, gamer, wife, Christian, worker, reader, consumer… I am not one of these things, I am the unique combination of all of them.
I don’t think I can ‘write like a woman’ – I can’t separate ‘being a woman’ from ‘being’ all the other things.
I believe I write in a way that is true to me. But I am also aware of my (potential) reader. What do they want to read?
We are the sum total of our experiences, nothing more. And nothing less. I write as this sum total, not as a part. So, yes, I write ‘as a woman’ – but as a woman who is a gamer, a lover, a reader of the weird and wonderful.
Hi, here is my 15 minute piece: ‘When you wake up in a world of gloom, you cannot feel the sun on your skin or the warmth of someone’s smile, the breeze in your hair, or the touch of a friend’s words. There is no comfort in friendly company; my pet’s adoring gaze. Only by moving to a new scene do I begin to wake up from the darkness. Gradually, my mind is distracted by the different shapes and colours and rhythm. Then, I become glued to the interplay of ideas exchanged, and immerse myself in someone’s embrace. I am on the way back to myself.’
This was really great to read. Rest in peace, Ms. Leguin. I like the part where she said that she was, “Always a Writer.” That is absolutely wonderful!
Rest in peace,Ms.Leguin. The direction you show to the beginner like me is really very valuable. It will really make my path comfortable and enjoyable. I will always remember. Thanks Ms.Leguin.
I like her ideas of being a writer. I share in her thoughts write like who you are. My first 3 books were about a period of time in my daily life. Hence this gave me more ideas for other books.