Quotes About Authorship

I'm not sure there's a difference between books that affected the way I see the world and books that influenced me as a writer.

I can't tell you any more than any other writer can tell you why they write, and I don't know what my influences are.

Of course, I'm of the generation that grew up with Hemingway and Faulkner as strong influences.

I'd say my biggest influences are writers like Andre Norton and, particularly when it comes to the Radch, C.J. Cherryh.

Skipp and Spector's 'Books of the Dead' were huge influences on me as a writer.

My own accumulation of influences is actually what made me a writer in the first place.

I would gather information and have to give it to somebody else and not get the byline.

I love writing for young people. It's the literature that was most important to me, the stories that shaped me and informed my own journey as a writer.

I don't want to write formula. I don't want to crank these books out like sausages. Every book is different, which takes a hell of a lot of ingenuity on my part.

When I write I inhabit a personality that is and is not me.

Writing, for me, is an inherent part of understanding the material on a deeper level.

A writer has an inescapable voice. I think it's inherent in the nature, and I think that we don't control it anymore than we control what we want to write about.

Nothing ever comes out the way I hope it will. That first vision, that initial vision you have of a book, what it's going to be like when it's done, it begins to go wrong the second you start to write.

I never wanted to be a writer initially. It was not my thing, but I was an avid reader.

I do have an innate understanding of where a story should or shouldn't go, in a way that I don't think can be taught.

I always think the insecurity is going to go away, but it's always there. Only bad writers think they're good.

I've tried to be graceful and I've tried to make sure my arguments are grounded in reason and insight.

People often ask writers where they get their inspiration, and for me, the short answer is that I haven't a clue; I'm just grateful that I get them.

I used to think that when I finished a book, I was finished with it. But it's like a wonderful Hydra. Every time a head disappears, more heads appear, so I will be writing for the rest of my life. The more books I write, the more books I find that I still have to write about. I use it like an inspiration, and that's wonderful.

In my own life, I've written scripts that I want to direct, so I would love to take my own creativity in a way where I could tell my own story. That does inspire me, the idea of becoming a director.

I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction.

Comedians kind of write what comes to them. You can give yourself little assignments, but it's what inspires you.

Reading while I'm writing ideally inspires my competitive side. When I read great writers, I want to be a better writer.

You know, as fiction writers, if our instincts are off, we can't pay our bills.