"And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing"
About this Quote
The subtext is a rebuttal to the mythology that art arrives on a lightning bolt. Butler, a Black woman writing speculative fiction in an industry that often treated both her identity and her genre as marginal, couldn’t afford to wait for permission or perfect conditions. “Every day, no excuses” reads like a survival strategy disguised as craft advice. It recognizes that “excuses” aren’t merely laziness; they’re often fear, impostor syndrome, and the seductive comfort of productive procrastination.
Context matters: Butler’s career is a case study in disciplined ambition. She kept journals, set goals, and treated writing like work because it was work - and because the stakes were higher for writers who weren’t automatically welcomed into the canon. Her line reminds you that the mundane, unglamorous part is the point. The page gets written by the person who shows up, even when the toilet looks temptingly achievable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Butler, Octavia. (2026, January 16). And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-have-this-little-litany-of-things-they-can-128511/
Chicago Style
Butler, Octavia. "And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-have-this-little-litany-of-things-they-can-128511/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"And I have this little litany of things they can do. And the first one, of course, is to write - every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/and-i-have-this-little-litany-of-things-they-can-128511/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
