Quotes About Writing

To write a novel is to dream a story and write it down on the page. That's why the power of a really good story is one of true magic. Good stories engage the reader utterly in the writer's dream so the dream becomes theirs, too.

I'm sorry for the randomness of what I wrote, Mr. Oswald. There's been a lot to absorb.' Without looking up, he says, 'Never apologize for writing your truth, Mr. Fink. There are no right or wrong answers.

A person who publishes a book willfully appears before the populace with his pants down. . . . If it is a good book nothing can hurt him. If it is a bad book nothing can help him. —EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY

being able to work in a robe and slippers was one of the greatest perks of being a writer.

We're professional liars, aren't we? It's our job to keep the story interesting.

When you can sit down and produce a four-hundred-page manuscript that can transport a reader somewhere else for a spell, maybe I'll allow you to criticize.

Mallory sat propped up in bed, her laptop, appropriately enough, in her lap,

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. —W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

She wrote for years, one book after another, just trying to get somewhere. At one point, despite all the roadblocks her publisher put in her way, she hit the New York Times list and got a multimillion dollar contract with another publisher.

A sentence is a set of words expressing themselves. A book is a set of words put together to change your consciousness."

Behind every sentence without the author, there is a writer.

There is a writer in every sentence without the author.

As writing is one of the desperate professions, it has universal appeal, especially for those not engaged in it.

I write because I love to play with language.

While I was trying to write, I was trying to grow.

I put the copy of 'A Christmas Carol' that my grandfather had first read to me 60 years ago on my desk, and I began to write. The result, for better or for worse, is the 'Christmas Spirits.' I plan to read it to my grandson.

I think that we're in a really amazing time, where there are really a lot of really fantastic female actresses and comedians. I imagine there's just a lot of opportunity for women to have powerful roles. Or it's just that there's more women writing TV. Women tend to maybe write strong women.

I change from present to past tense and back again, and use an annoying passive voice throughout the whole thing.

The first novel I wrote was a monster - clocking in at 180 000 words - but it died a death, a death it deserved. It was called 'The Gods First Make Mad.' It was a good title, but it was the only good thing about the book. I didn't let that put me off.

I hate politics. I like to write about it, but to get involved in it, to try and make a lot of ignorant people do what you want them to do, waste of time. Go and write a book. It's more important and it'll last longer.

Write for yourself, not for a perceived audience. If you do, you'll mostly fall flat on your face, because it's impossible to judge what people want. And you have to read. That's how you learn what is good writing and what is bad. Then the main thing is application. It's hard work.

I just can't find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read.

Deixava os meus manuscritos permanecerem na gaveta do meu escritório durante anos, antes de me sentir suficientemente seguro para publicá-los. Ser esperto era algo que eu podia deixar para os outros.

In the end, all that a writer has to pass on is not myth and anecdote, but scene and character, evoked in memorable prose.