Quotes About Fiction

Writing fiction takes me out of time. I sit down and the clock will not exist for me for a few hours. That's probably as close to immortal as we'll ever get.

The doctrine that all men are, in any sense, or have been, at any time, free and equal, is an utterly baseless fiction.

We've had fiction from the time of cave drawings. I think fiction, storytelling, and narrative in general will always exist in some form.

The Highlander was a documentary, and events happened in real time.

Before you can read, you know the difference between a story and reality. And, of course, by the time you're old enough to do any real damage with an Uzi, you've learned that difference.

I instantly chucked my academic ambitions and began writing fiction full-time.

I'd much rather pretend I'm somewhere else, and any time I open the pages of a book, that happens.

How can I tell," said the man, "that the past isn't a fiction designed to account for the discrepancy between my immediate physical sensations and my state of mind?

'Kane and Abel' is the best popular fiction of all time. As a kid, I wanted to be prime minister when I read 'First Among Equals.'

Once upon a time there was a Once upon a time there was a Once upon a time there was a Stop this. It's undignified.

The Universe may be stranger than we can imagine, but it's going to have a tough time outdoing Egan.

The biographies and autobiographies are on the whole more impressive than the fiction of the last two decades, but the freakish best sellers among them are least likely to withstand the test of time.

I learned that lesson a long time ago. When you write popular fiction, you're going to get bashed by critics.

...Don't let me ever hear you say, 'I can't read fiction. I only have time for the truth.' Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of 'literature'? That means fiction, too, stupid.

Having spent so much time in a fictional world, I prefer to read about the real world

It's really important in any historical fiction, I think, to anchor the story in its time. And you do that by weaving in those details, by, believe it or not, by the plumbing.

Just so you know, when they say "Once upon a time" . . . they're lying

I think any time you've got a story based on a true story, no matter how accurate it is, obviously it's still fictitious.

When I was little, I made up my own fairy tales, and the ghostly echo of Once upon a time shapes all the fiction Ive ever written.

It's masturbation for writers to be able to write this absolutely outrageous personality, in a character that you somehow agree with, part of the time, at least.

I always needed that extra fantasy world. I had to have another world I could be in at the same time.

Why did everyone like that story so much when it wasn't true? Why was everyone so eager to believe it? Was it because, in real life, ever after's generally stink?

Only make up what you have to. Otherwise, tell as much truth as you can. That means you have fewer lies to keep track of, and you're not as likely to trip yourself up.

Flint snorted. The kender was beginning to make sence, a fact that caused the dwarf to shake his head and wonder if maybe he shouldn't lie down somewhere out in the sun.