Skip to main content
National Endowment for the Arts logo National Endowment for the Arts logo
Search
Follow us on X Follow us on facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Apple store Follow us on instagram Follow us on youtube
Menu
  • Grants
    Grants
    • Grants for Arts Projects
    • Challenge America
    • Our Town
    • Research Awards
    • Partnership Agreement Grants
    • Creative Writing
    • Translation Projects
    • Volunteer to be an NEA Panelist
    • Manage Your Award
    • Recent Grants
  • Initiatives
    Initiatives
    • ArtsHERE
    • Arts Education Partnership
    • Blue Star Museums
    • Citizens' Institute on Rural Design
    • Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network
    • GSA's Art in Architecture
    • Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative
    • Interagency Working Group on Arts, Health, & Civic Infrastructure
    • International
    • Mayors' Institute on City Design
    • Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge
    • National Folklife Network
    • NEA Big Read
    • NEA Research Labs
    • Poetry Out Loud
    • Save America's Treasures
    • Shakespeare in American Communities
    • Sound Health Network
    • United We Stand
  • Stories
    Stories
    • American Artscape Magazine
    • NEA Art Works Podcast
    • National Endowment for the Arts Blog
  • Impact
    Impact
    • States and Regions
    • Research
    • Accessibility
    • Arts & Artifacts Indemnity Program
    • Arts and Health
    • Arts Education
    • Convenings
    • Creative Placemaking
    • Disaster Readiness & Recovery for the Arts and Culture Sector
    • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
    • Literary Arts
    • Media Arts
    • Native Arts and Culture
  • Honors
    Honors
    • NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships
    • National Heritage Fellowships
    • National Medal of Arts
  • News
    News
    • Press Releases
    • Upcoming Events
  • About
    About
    • National Council on the Arts
    • Leadership and Staff
    • What Is the NEA
    • Publications
    • National Endowment for the Arts on COVID-19
    • Open Government
    • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Civil Rights Office
    • Appropriations History
    • Make a Donation
  1. Home
  2. Stories
  3. National Endowment for the Arts Blog
  4. All Blog Posts

John Steinbeck on the Art of Writing

Feb 26, 2016
By Paulette Beete
John Steinbeck on the Art of Writing written in open white capitals on a black background
The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world John Steinbeck
In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable John Steinbeck
Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them John Steinbeck
The craft or art of writing is the clumsy attempt to find symbols for the wordlessness John Steinbeck
Literature is as old as speech It grew out of the human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed John Steinbeck
Learn more about John Steinbeck and his classic novel The Grapes of Wrath--part of the Big Read library--at neabigread.org. 

Recent Blog Posts

All Blog Posts
graphic that says Measure for Measure. On the left side of the graphic, there are hatchmarks that suggest bar graphs
May 05, 2025
Pro-Social Parents Sing More to Their Infants and, By Doing So, Contribute to Greater Language Acquisition, Study Suggests
graphic that says Measure for Measure. On the left side of the graphic, there are hatchmarks that suggest bar graphs
Apr 11, 2025
Measure for Measure: Anatomy of a Rebound in the Arts Economy
Close-up of white woman with long, straight brown hair staring into camera.
Mar 27, 2025
Notable Quotable: 2025 NEA Jazz Master Marilyn Crispell

Stay Connected to the National Endowment for the Arts

Sign up for our newsletters and magazine
Newsletter Signup Magazine Signup
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Civil Rights
  • FOIA
  • No Fear Act
  • Inspector General
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimers
  • Open Government
  • USA.gov
  • Section 508 Accessibility
  • Scam Regarding NEA Grants
400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20506
202.682.5400
Follow us on X Follow us on facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Apple store Follow us on instagram Follow us on youtube