Quotes About Writing

I read to escape...I write to help others escape... --Howard Hopkins, Author of The Chloe Files

Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half of a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess.

Here is an appropriate use of the exclamation mark: The last thing he expected when the elevator door opened was the snarling tiger that leapt at him. "Ahhhhh!" ... In almost all situations that do not involve immediate physical danger or great surprise, you should think twice before using an exclamation mark. If you have thought twice and the exclamation mark is still there, think about it three times, or however many times it takes until you delete it.

When well executed, description is unobtrusive and lends substance to a novel. It is the body fat of prose: too much is unhealthy, but without any, you no longer have the thing—you have its skeleton.

A good approach is to allow one dream per novel. Then, in the final revision, go back and get rid of that, too.

Like a small business, a novel cannot afford to carry dead weight, even if it is a close family member. It is likewise unnecessary to introduce a mother and/or father into a narrative—usually through the medium of a long telephone call on the subject of 'How's things?'—to demonstrate that the protagonist does, like all mammals, have parents.

When the reader has stopped to wonder at your delamificatious vocabulary, or, worse, when the reader has stopped because the word you've used has no more meaning to him than a random ptliijnbvc of letters, the reader is not involved in your story. ... Generally, saying 'edifice' instead of 'building' doesn't tell your reader anything about the building; it tells the reader that you know that word edifice.

Any of the following crimes against fiction can prevent the publication of your novel. Committing several will prevent the publication of novels by anyone whose name is similar to yours, just in case.

El lector espera que seas tú el que tenga algo que decir sobre la vida, porque para eso pagamos a los escritores.

Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.

I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.

I NOTICE THAT IT TAKES PRACTICE, NO MATTER HOW CLEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ARE. PLUS WHICH THIS IS A LETTER

Outlines can help, but not if you begin with them. If you begin, instead, by writing down everything, by spewing out your ideas as fast as you can type, you will discover the answer to the first question: the fragments you have to work with are the various things you have just written.

write whatever comes into your head, as fast as you can type, without reference to outlines, notes, data, books or any other aids. The object is to find out what you would like to say, what all your earlier work on the topic or project has already led you to believe.

Mike Walker is the Hemingway of gossip.

I knew the alphabet. Maybe I could be a writer.

When you write about the people you hate the most, do it with love.

Screenwriting is the most prized of all the cinematic arts. Actually, it isn't, but it should be.

He picked up the fountain pen and clicked the top on and off a few times while he listened.

My father I liked, but it was only after his death that I got to know him by writing the play.

If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire is not to write

If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write.

Literatuur wordt door zieken gemaakt. Wie gezond is, schrijft geen boeken.

The nice thing about being a writer is that you can make magic happen without learning tricks.