106 quotes found
“In the seventies I used to work in the bedroom of my flat at a little table. I worked in longhand with a fountain pen. I'd type out a draft, mark up the typescript, type it out again. Once I paid a...”
“The Paraclete and "Book of Martha" narratives were ultimately versions of the dream of "fixing" of the human species that had driven (and stymied) the Parables books: "On the one hand," she writes ...”
“Good writing is rhythm.”
“We humans are the only creatures on the planet capable of articulating worlds which are contrary, even in the most minor way, to reality. Every story, I think, begins there. With a dream. A fantasy.”
“Theres a fine line between appropriate and inappropriate, but it better be a strong, clear line.' As a teacher, I took that advice to heart. As a writer, I asked, 'But what happens if the line isnt...”
“Writing means sharing. It's part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, opinions.”
“As I suspect is true of many who write for a living, as I write I think about all sorts of things. I don't necessarily write down what I'm thinking; it's just that as I write I think about things. ...”
“Writing is the act of finding out what I think.”
“The first draft of a bookeven a long oneshould take no more than three months, the length of a season.”
“There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing - to find honest men to publish it - and to get sensible men to read it. Caleb C. Colton [1780-1832]”
“I started reading my manuscripts out loud, to hear what they sounded like. If the text flows with little effort, then I am satisfied, but if I keep stumbling and stuttering while I read, then I rew...”
“I think you will find that, if you continue to write fiction, every character you create is partly you.”
“You haven't seen yourself until you look through the eyes of your characters.”
“Attention and focus are essential skills for writers in a noise-filled world.”
“I come up with an idea and Ill start throwing little suggestions for possible scenes into a folder, but before I seriously sit down to write Word One, they whole outline is finished. Sue me. It works.”
“I write in complete silence using only two fingers so I cant type faster than I edit at the same time, saving me from having to go back. Although it does create a lot of capitalization issues. And ...”
“Its amazing how my mind opens up right when I have to run on the treadmill. Ive finished three chapters rather than run a mile.”
“The time to being writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is you really want to say.”
“I get up at 4am or 5am and write for a few hours before the rest of the world wakes up. And I dont drink caffeine. That combination is basically a deal breaker for every other author I know. I dont...”
“Don't let others define your dreams.”
