Quotes About Writing

The thing that inspires me most is reading and just observing the people around me. I think those are the two things that make me want to write.

Reading makes me want to write my own books, and just trying to understand what I see in the world around me makes me want to figure things out.

I tend to overuse the word "project" only because "book" is terrifying while I'm still in the middle of something. A project can fail. I don't want a book to fail.

If critics want to help me, let them come sit next to me while I'm writing.

I write very tightly, and my big fear is boring people. I want them to read quickly, stopped in their tracks. I resist indulging myself.

I don't want to write every week, it's too much trouble, and I shall only write when I want something. If you think I'm sick when I don't write, you can send for me to come and tell you.

Some people say 'I want to be a writer,' and some people say, 'I want to write.'

I don't differentiate in the way that the genre creators want differentiation to be made. I feel that I have never written children's or YA stories particularly.

And there are people who want to be writers because they love to write. And they care.

When you start writing about the stuff that is the central experience of your own life, you can talk about whatever you want, in whatever way you want.

My agent is so totally honest, which is just what every writer needs. She won't let me sell a crappy book, even if I want to.

In terms of a "career," I never have long-term plans, and certainly don't want to spend several years, say, writing a "long" novel.

I've been writing, but I haven't been writing. In my mind I've been saying I want to write, but I haven't actually physically picked up a pencil and started writing.

When I read good stories, I want to write good stories too.

Too many people write books because they want to be a New York Times best-seller. They want the glory and the fame.

I like to write books that touch my heart. I want to entertain, and I love to entertain myself.

Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want. Anything at all .... as long as you tell the truth.

As a rule, I don't worry about genre. I just want to tell a good story, with characters that interest me and my readers.

I find it hard to think of myself as selling books. I don't even have a Web site. I want to sit and write, not sell.

At home, I'm lucky if I can write three or four hours before the phone starts ringing and the kids want to go to soccer.

I'm my own "ideal reader" in the sense that I write novels that I would want to read.

A lot of time you write out of some unconscious place. I try to trust what is coming and where it wants to take me.

No wonder you want to be a writer. How can you not, with all that behind you? You practically are a novel already.

When I'm writing a record, I kind of don't listen to much music. Just because I want to be inspired solely on the emotion; just based on how it feels.