Top 50 Mark Rubinstein Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “A writer must learn to trust the process; the words and ideas will flow from some deep inner recess once the writing has begun.”

— Mark Rubinstein

2. “Why do I love writing? I can be who I want, do what I want, hurt who I want, and make the world over, just the way I’d love to have it.”

— Mark Rubinstein

3. “If you’re a writer, you’ve chosen art as a way of life. You must accept that some will like your work and others will not. It’s the life you chose, so live with it and don’t complain.”

— Mark Rubinstein

4. “Reading is to an author as listening to music is to a composer. There’s music in the words.”

— Mark Rubinstein

5. “Reading is a great way to travel anywhere in the world without making reservations. It’s a trip to wherever you wish to go.”

— Mark Rubinstein

6. “Reading is an apprenticeship to writing.”

— Mark Rubinstein

7. “A writer’s refuge is imagination and the possibilities it provides.”

— Mark Rubinstein

8. “A writer’s refuge is imagination. Therein lies the ability to create a new world and bring order to chaos.”

— Mark Rubinstein

9. “When I read, I visit other worlds. When I write, I create other worlds.”

— Mark Rubinstein

10. “Have the courage to write a lousy first draft.”

— Mark Rubinstein

11. “Imagination is a writer’s refuge and a renewable source of energy.”

— Mark Rubinstein

12. “There is no absolute truth. There is only your own truth. Write honestly, from the heart, and you will reach your readers.”

— Mark Rubinstein

13. “A writer is never unemployed.”

— Mark Rubinstein

14. “A writer should not wait for inspiration; it won’t come. Inspiration is fueled by the act of writing, by the sweat of the effort, by the work.”

— Mark Rubinstein

15. “A writer has two choices: either write or curl up and die.”

— Mark Rubinstein

16. “Write fearlessly, from the heart; pour your guts out and don’t give a damn about what anyone thinks.”

— Mark Rubinstein

17. “There is no fiction. There’s only truth disguised as fiction.”

— Mark Rubinstein

18. “In writing, you learn about the mystery of yourself. In reading you learn about the mystery of the world. Do both and you’ll learn much.”

— Mark Rubinstein

19. “The book you don’t read is a journey forsaken.”

— Mark Rubinstein

20. “I don’t care about the rules of grammar so long as my characters’ words sound true to life and bite heavily.”

— Mark Rubinstein

21. “Many writers vacillate between believing writing is its own reward, and the need for acceptance is the big reward.”

— Mark Rubinstein

22. “When you write, bleed copiously from an open wound. Write from the depths of your heart.”

— Mark Rubinstein

23. “The interaction between author and reader is the most intimate in the world of art. The reader’s imagination shares and completes the writer’s.”

— Mark Rubinstein

24. “A writer has many tools: eyes, ears, nose, sensations, thoughts feelings and imagination. The tools can construct a house of stories.”

— Mark Rubinstein

25. “If you’re a writer, you’re not a short order cook. Forget what people want. Write what you want to write, be true to yourself.”

— Mark Rubinstein

26. “No matter how you describe a protagonist, each reader has a personal vision of that character. Leave room for the reader’s imagination.”

— Mark Rubinstein

27. “I think a good novel is a slow reveal – of the character and the plot. It’s a process of discovery for the reader.”

— Mark Rubinstein

28. “Every bestselling author was once completely unknown. A good book will eventually find its place in the world.”

— Mark Rubinstein

29. “The writer’s imagination sets the template for the reader’s to take over. The reader is a participant in the imaginative process.”

— Mark Rubinstein

30. “Creativity is its own reward. A writer must relish those unfathomable moments when plot-lines and characters fall into place. It’s the closest thing to magic we know.”

— Mark Rubinstein

31. “If your fiction is good and true, your novel’s ending will discover itself.”

— Mark Rubinstein

32. “The greatest act of self-education I’ve ever undertaken has been to become a writer.”

— Mark Rubinstein

33. “Reading any novel, good or mediocre, is a workshop for a writer.”

— Mark Rubinstein

34. “A reader is your partner, a friend, not someone who needs to be impressed. Keep the writing honest, make it come from the heart.”

— Mark Rubinstein

35. “If you write for money or fame you will be disappointed. If you do so for the love of it, you will be rich in satisfaction.”

— Mark Rubinstein

36. “When people sat in caves, they told stories. It was for sharing, learning, entertaining. Storytelling is as old as we are. It will never die.”

— Mark Rubinstein

37. “I have stories to tell. I have no theories, no advice, just stories.”

— Mark Rubinstein

38. “A good novel takes the reader into the heart of another person. It lands you smack into the life and times of someone else.”

— Mark Rubinstein

39. “Be yourself behind the pen, not Hemingway, Joyce or Faulkner. Find your own voice. Let your own mind run through your fingers.”

— Mark Rubinstein

40. “A reader is a voyager, an armchair adventurer, travelling to different times, places, inhabiting different minds and worlds. What fun.”

— Mark Rubinstein

41. “If you write a novel a great adventure awaits you. And like any strange and wondrous journey, there will be uncertainty, even fear. Just keep going.”

— Mark Rubinstein

42. “As a writer, have faith in your unconscious mind. Unbeknownst to you, it will guide your story, make connections, and weave the tale for you.”

— Mark Rubinstein

43. “In a very real way, an author’s creations are given over to others, the way a mother sends her children out into the larger world.”

— Mark Rubinstein

44. “A reader finds a new reality on the page, interacts with an imaginary world, and is enriched by doing so.”

— Mark Rubinstein

45. “Imagination creates its own possibilities.”

— Mark Rubinstein

46. “For a writer, readers are the best collaborators.”

— Mark Rubinstein

47. “Given the state of airlines and airports these days, I travel extensively by opening a book.”

— Mark Rubinstein

48. “Good or evil, it doesn’t really matter, so long as your novel’s character is interesting.”

— Mark Rubinstein

49. “Tell me a story” is as old as humankind. It’s a prehistoric request, going back to when people sat around fires in caves. A novelist’s first goal, above all, is to tell a story.”

— Mark Rubinstein

50. “An unread book is a world unexplored.”

— Mark Rubinstein