47 quotes found
Novelist · American
American novelist
“Writers often torture themselves trying to get the words right. Sometimes you must lower your expectations and just finish it.”
“You're never as good a writer as you think you are, and you're never as bad. Just keep reading and writing, writing, writing.”
“Write about the thing that scares you most or your most private confession and you'll never have a problem coming up with decent fiction.”
“If you write a kid's book only for kids, then you have failed.”
“If you schlep a shit job everyday, keep and feed a little secret life--whether it's writing, art, running, music, your thoughts. It's yours.”
“You can be a writer who doesn't read everyday. But you're not fooling anyone. It shows, rather embarrassingly, in your work.”
“When you print out your manuscript and read it, marking up with a pen, it sometimes feels like a criminal returning to the scene of a crime.”
“I don't use big words to show off because it's ostentatious.”
“Love it when a compelling new character kicks open your mental door, tracks mud across your brain, and props their feet up on your cerebrum.”
“Yeah, episodic doesn't work. Your coolest character needs something big and meaningful to do. Otherwise, well, it's just narrative shit.”
“The best writers I've read possess oodles of self-doubt, yet claw their way up with each work and remain humble. Boastful ones, not so much.”
“I've found that busting your ass on a daily basis to make your art good, clear, and meaningful creates the most luck.”
“Regarding the creative: never assume you're the master, only the student. Your audience will determine if you're masterful.”
“Even if you're in the thick of revising another work, write something new. Something small. It's important to keep telling yourself stories.”
“Always work with/surround yourself with people who help make you a better version of you. Kindly avoid those who don't.”
“Don't think about the writing process too much. Just do one thing: tell the motherfucking story.”
“When writing, I uncage KAT: Keep Adding Tension. Even if I don't know where the story's going, petting the KAT keeps it purring.”
“Successful writing is a slow, daily, meticulous form of mental illness.”
“A day of bad writing is always better than a day of no writing.”
“Writing a first-draft battle scene is akin to real combatchaos, confusion, and you must keep your cool as you fire word bullets downrange.”
