Quotes About Writing

As an academic, a great deal of my time is spent writing, with very little in meetings. In government, the premium is placed on figuring things out through discussing them with other people.

I binge write, basically. I do a lot of prep, research, setup. I'll have a pretty detailed outline. Sort of like a beat outline. And then I'll add little notes and dialogue ideas, and I'll just create a 20-page document.

When I'm breaking in a character like Jessica Jones, I have this amazing opportunity to create her backstory. It's all of the work that happens before I'm ever on camera... Writing 'Bonfire' was like doing all of that fun stuff; it was like 300 pages of prep work.

I was an outsider, never quite part of what was going on, always looking in. It turned out to be great preparation for writing fiction.

With any novel that you begin, you can't foresee how difficult or easy it's going to be, and you can't really prepare yourself. You just have a take it one step at a time and know that it's all right to keep going - you can always fix it.

I'm never going to write a book like Anthony Sher did, you know, 'The Broadcaster Prepares.' I'm only talking to myself. I'd have liked to be a writer, or a journalist, but if things don't come easy to me I don't do them. I think if you're always thinking how difficult something is, you shouldn't be doing it.

I suppose writing nonfiction did prepare me for writing fiction. Whenever you write anything, you're honing your skills for writing anything else.

Becoming a writer is not a 'career decision' like becoming a doctor or a policeman. You don't choose it so much as get chosen, and once you accept the fact that you're not fit for anything else, you have to be prepared to walk a long, hard road for the rest of your days.

I'm constantly preparing. Material hits me; I'm always writing. I go back and listen to my shows and just prepare and put my set together. But the day of, I like to have some downtime. A nice lunch is important for me.

Freedom is the basic prerequisite for writing.

As the writer, you're always a presence in the song. If you get close to what human beings are like, you're writing about common experience. We all do much the same things, so if you nail somebody, then you've also nailed yourself.

So, whenever I'm writing, I'm writing in the presence of all the other books I've read and I think we all are.

When I am writing, and occasionally achieve single focus and presence, I finally feel that is where I'm supposed to be. Everything else is kind of anxiety.

The biggest impact that acting and theater had was, of course, stage presence, but it also had a big impact on my writing.

Historians tell the story of the past, novelists the story of the present.

I never really thought of myself as a TV critic. I was presenting TV before I was writing about it.

Acting and writing are the things I like doing. I don't like presenting that much.

People say I don't write books, I make Christmas presents.

Writing as a woman presents enormous problems but I have attempted it several times and haven't had many complaints.

Writing 'Deathstroke' presents a number of challenges to me. As a Christian, as a minister, it's difficult for me to write a comic book that all but glorifies violence. So my take on 'Deathstroke' has been to not so much celebrate violence but to deal with the consequences of violence.

Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted.

I think crime writing is my link with trying to preserve a sort of order.

My mother inculcated wisdom in us, and I want to preserve her wisdom in writing.

As you probably know, I've written a lot about the presidency, so it's obviously exciting when you get to interview a president and write about it.