Brenda Ueland

Brenda Ueland – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Explore the life and legacy of Brenda Ueland (1891–1985), American journalist, memoirist, and beloved writing teacher. Discover her philosophies on creativity, her remarkable career, and inspiring quotes that still resonate with writers today.

Introduction

Brenda Ueland was an American writer, journalist, editor, and teacher whose passionate belief in human creativity inspired generations of writers. Her most enduring work, If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit, remains a touchstone for those yearning to connect more deeply with their own voice. Through her life—marked by feminism, boldness, and a refusal to compromise—Ueland embodied the very creative freedom she advocated.

Early Life and Family

Brenda Ueland was born on October 24, 1891, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to parents Andreas and Clara Hampson Ueland.

Her father, Andreas Ueland, was an immigrant from Norway who became a prominent lawyer and judge. Clara’s activism and conviction deeply shaped Brenda’s worldview.

Growing up in Minnesota, Brenda was exposed to progressive ideas and the belief that speaking truth to power matters. Her mother’s dedication to women’s rights and community engagement set a foundation for Brenda’s own life choices.

Youth and Education

Brenda Ueland’s early education included attendance at Wells College in New York.

During her college years and shortly thereafter, Brenda grappled with the role of a woman in intellectual life and sought opportunities to write, publish, and find her voice. Her formative years in education instilled both discipline and an appreciation for freedom—and hinted at the path she would later carve as a teacher of writing.

Career and Achievements

Early Journalism and orial Work

After college, Brenda became one of the first female reporters at the Minneapolis Tribune. St. Paul Daily News.

In 1915–1917 she joined Crowell Publishing in New York City as an editor, expanding her exposure to the world of magazines and national journalism. Saturday Evening Post, Ladies’ Home Journal, Liberty, and others. Over time, she established herself as a distinctive voice in journalism—with a blend of candor, insight, and a refusal to be confined.

She also engaged in radio, writing scripts and hosting programs such as Tell Me More, where she responded to listeners’ personal questions, and Stories for Girl Heroes, spotlighting women’s lives.

Return to Minnesota and Teaching

By 1930, Ueland had returned to Minnesota, choosing to stay close to home while continuing her writing and teaching.

Her bold energy and conviction as a writing mentor became as central to her legacy as her published work. She valued spontaneity, freedom, and authentic self-expression—qualities she insisted every writer possess.

Major Books and Later Publications

Brenda Ueland published two major books during her lifetime:

• If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit (1938)
  This remains her signature work. In it, Ueland argues fervently that “everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say.” If You Want to Write has been republished by Graywolf Press and remained one of their bestsellers.

• Me: A Memoir (1939)
  In this more personal work, Ueland reflects on her upbringing, her time in Greenwich Village, her loves, and her struggles.

After her death, additional collections were published, such as Strength to Your Sword Arm (essays from her later decades) and O Clouds, Unfold (biography of her mother Clara Ueland).

Honors and Later Life

In 1946, while covering the treason trials of Norwegian collaborator Vidkun Quisling, Brenda Ueland was awarded the Order of St. Olaf by Norway, a recognition of her reporting and commitment to truth.

In her later years, she remained active and physically vigorous—even in her eighties, she walked long distances, maintained handstands, and set swimming records in her age group.

Brenda Ueland passed away on March 5, 1985, in Minneapolis, at the age of 93.

Historical Milestones & Context

Brenda Ueland’s life spanned dramatic shifts in American society: the suffrage movement, two world wars, the rise of modern mass media, and changing expectations for women. Her mother was directly involved in the suffrage movement, which likely infused Brenda with early lessons in activism and social engagement.

As a woman journalist in the early 20th century, she entered a male-dominated field. Her success as one of the first women reporters in Minneapolis, and later as an editor in New York, marked her as a pioneer.

During her time, many writing manuals emphasized strict form, imitation, and restraint. Ueland’s countervoice—celebrating spontaneity, emotional truth, and the “wild mind”—stood as a refreshing alternative. Her emphasis on self-trust and rejecting “correctness” resonates even more strongly in today’s landscape, where diversification of voice is a rallying cry.

Legacy and Influence

Though Ueland may not be a household name, her impact among writers, teachers, and creative seekers is profound. If You Want to Write continues to circulate, inspire new editions, and serve as a guide for both emerging and seasoned writers.

Her insistence that everyone has a creative voice challenges dominating narratives about talent and gatekeeping. Writers and creative coaches often cite her work as transformative—particularly for people who feel blocked, judged, or silenced.

In Minnesota, she is celebrated as one of the state’s literary figures, and her family’s legacy (especially Clara Ueland’s activism) keeps her memory alive in civic and cultural history.

In the broader world of writing pedagogy, Ueland’s influence can be traced into more recent movements that value vulnerability, process over product, and the spiritual dimension of creativity.

Personality and Talents

Brenda Ueland was known for her ferocious integrity, her warmth, and her playfulness. She encouraged boldness, radical generosity, and listening as an act of love. Her style as a teacher was conversational—she desired that writers feel as though they were speaking to a trusted friend.

She believed deeply in solitude and idleness as necessary creative fuels. Her own life, sustaining physical vigor well into old age, reflected a person who lived with curiosity, delight, and rebellion against complacency.

Ueland also held a tension between public engagement and inner life. She wrote, taught, and conversed fiercely, yet always pushed for writers to turn inward, to dig beneath surface norms and expectations.

Famous Quotes of Brenda Ueland

Here is a curated selection of Brenda Ueland’s memorable quotes—each one a distilled spark of her vision:

“Everybody is talented because everybody who is human has something to express.” “It is so conceited and timid to be ashamed of one’s mistakes. Of course they are mistakes. Go on to the next.” “I learned that you should feel when writing, not like Lord Byron on a mountain top, but like a child stringing beads in kindergarten—happy, absorbed and quietly putting one bead on after another.” “Even if I knew for certain that I would never have anything published again, and would never make another cent from it, I would still keep on writing.” “Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force … When we really listen … we are constantly being re-created.” “Families are great murderers of the creative impulse, particularly husbands.” “Sometimes I think of life as a process where everybody is discouraging and taking everybody else down a peg or two.” “The only way to become a better writer is to become a better person.”

Each of these captures an essential strand of Ueland’s belief: creativity is internal, unbossed, and requires nourishment through listening, courage, and faith in one’s voice.

Lessons from Brenda Ueland

From Ueland’s life and her writings, we can extract several enduring lessons:

1. Creativity is universal.
   Her core conviction was that creative power is not reserved for the select few, but belongs to every human being.

2. Writing is an act of truth.
   She urged writers to drop pretense, to stop mimicking, and to speak from their most honest selves—even when that voice is messy or raw.

3. Mistakes are part of the journey.
   Rather than hiding errors, Ueland encouraged writers to move forward—learning, evolving, and not being ashamed.

4. Listening fosters connection and insight.
   For Ueland, creativity was entwined with care: to write well, one must listen deeply—to others and to the self.

5. Solitude is an essential well.
   She believed that idleness and quiet moments are not wasted, but fertile ground where ideas and truth emerge.

6. Persistence matters more than validation.
   Her promise to keep writing even if none of it were published speaks to a kind of inner loyalty and resilience.

Conclusion

Brenda Ueland’s life and work remain a luminous invitation: the world needs your voice, and your voice deserves to be heard. She refused to let writers bow to fear, perfection, or external measures of success.

Her legacy lives on in every writer who dares to write badly before writing bravely, in every teacher who listens with patience rather than critiques prematurely, and in every creative spirit seeking permission to be themselves.

May her words and example remind you: your creative impulse is not frivolous—it is sacred. Write. Speak. Be fierce. And, as Ueland would say, tell me more—whatever “more” you carry inside.