Quotes About Writing

Writing sustains me. But wouldn't it be more accurate to say that it sustains this kind of life? Which does not, of course, mean that my life is any better when I don't write. On the contrary, at such times it is far worse, wholly unbearable, and inevitably ends in madness. This is, of course, only on the assumption that I am a writer even when I don't write — which is indeed the case; and a non-writing writer is, in fact, a monster courting insanity.

Würde ich einmal ein größeres Ganzes schreiben können, wohlgebildet vom Anfang bis zum Ende, dann könnte sich auch die Geschichte niemals endgiltig von mir loslösen und ich dürfte ruhig und mit offenen Augen als Blutsverwandter einer gesunden Geschichte ihrer Vorlesung zuhören, so aber lauft jedes Stückchen der Geschichte heimatlos herum und treibt mich in die entgegengesetzte Richtung. Tagebucheintrag vom 5. November 1911.

En cierta forma cuando escribo estoy a salvo (p. 52)

When I was only eleven years old, I decided to become a writer. I told this ambition in a letter to Laura Ingalls Wilder; the die was cast. How could I go back on my word?

For short term relaxation, I take a hot tub. It's my best way to unblock writers' block, too. For a bit longer relaxation, I enjoy camping. Just being in the wilderness, with no phones or computers or anything I have to do really refreshes my spirit.

I made a decision when I started writing 'All is Song' to take the compliments I had for 'The Wilderness' and try to be confident and not overwhelmed by it.

At one point, I wanted to be a wildlife photographer. I also love to travel, so maybe I'd do travel writing.

I'm not a wildly gifted person; I don't play an instrument or speak another language or have great accomplishments in another field, as many writers do. But writing feels natural to me; the act of it seems to free up my unconscious, so that sometimes I feel that I have access to more ideas and information than my conscious mind could think up.

I like to say I sit alone in my room, and I fight the language. I am wildly obsessive. I can't let something go if I think it's wrong.

Nora Roberts, Stephen King, Lee Child and George R. R. Martin write wildly different books. Their writing, plotting and styles have little or nothing in common. But they all write books and characters that readers find appealing.

I love epistolary novels and became wildly excited when the form presented itself to me.

My salary swings an unbelievable amount. When I had Holly, I took seven months off, so my salary was very low. It fluctuates wildly. No one pays you for the period you spend writing. I am certainly not rich.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.

My family life reads a bit like 'Little House on the Prairie.' I was big sister to Joan, Renee, and brother William, and we grew up in Dalkey, a little town 10 miles outside of Dublin. It was a secure, safe and happy childhood, which was meant to be a disadvantage when it comes to writing stories about family dramas.

William Shatner has one style. We have completely contrasting personalities. We're very good friends. I adore him, but we're very different people, so they were smart enough to write characters that reflected that.

William Trevor is an author I admire; his stories are subtle and powerful, and beautifully written.

John Dos Passos, Raymond Carver, Flaubert and William Maxwell were all very influential when I first started writing. Now, the writers I'm most interested in are the writers who are most unlike me: for example, Denis Johnson.

Many of the writers who have inspired me most are outside the genre: Humorists like Robert Benchley and James Thurber, screenwriters like Ben Hecht and William Goldman, and journalists/columnists like H.L. Mencken, Mike Royko and Molly Ivins.

The hardest part of writing 'William Shakespeare's Star Wars' was probably the sheer amount of iambic pentameter and tiptoeing around certain scenes I knew would be hot-button issues for 'Star Wars' fans.

I never got too specialized but did like the Southern Gothic writers like William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.

I consider William Gay one of the great writers that no one has ever heard of.

Do you think I am standing here, making this up as I go? I am sorry to disillusion you. I am not Robin Williams. I am the king of the pen.

Maisie Williams was my first choice to play Wolfsbane when I heard about the 'New Mutants' movie - but in comic books, I can keep the New Mutants adolescent for decades and have as much fun writing them at the end as I did in the beginning.

Even famous poets such as Marianne Moore and William Carlos Williams were rarely asked to read their poems.