I believe that only poetry counts ... A great novelist is first of all a great poet. — Francois Mauriac Copy Share Image
“I guess it’s true: it’s difficult for men to understand women.” — Santonu Kumar Dhar Copy Share Image
I don't really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident. — Wole Soyinka Copy Share Image
A novelist has to know enough about a subject to fool the passenger next to him on an airplane. — David Foster Wallace Copy Share Image
Pundits always have something to write about; the novelist just has a blank screen. — Simon Mawer Copy Share Image
As a novelist, I remain interested in the notion of a single reckless act and its consequences. — Anita Shreve Copy Share Image
“In another life I would have liked to be a poet, I just can’t stop the lines in time, so I’m a… — Colum McCann Copy Share Image
Noir is dead for me because historically, I think it's a simple view. I've taken it as far as it can go.… — James Ellroy Copy Share Image
“On every page, confidence fights with self-doubt. Every sentence is an act of faith. Why would anybody want to do it?” — David Morrell Copy Share Image
The novelist works neither to correct nor to condone, not at all to comfort, but to make what's told alive. — Eudora Welty Copy Share Image
The essayist has to follow a certain intellectual pattern. The novelist has the advantage of using fantasy, of being subjective. — Manuel Puig Copy Share Image
I maintain that if you're a novelist and you go into an art museum, you'll come out a better novelist. And if… — John Hawkes Copy Share Image
“Every author these days is an award-winning novelist. Why? Because they set up an award contest and they dub themselves the winner.” — Karen E. Quinones Miller Copy Share Image
Every novelist has a different purpose-and often several purposes which might even be contradictory. — Irwin Shaw Copy Share Image
“Liberty of imagination should be the most precious possession of a novelist. To try voluntarily to discover the fettering dogmas of its… — Joseph Conrad Copy Share Image
Research can be a boon to a novelist - there are more things in heaven and Earth than can be dreamt of… — Michelle Dean Copy Share Image
“A novelist is like a scout commissioned to go and see what is happening in the depth of the soul. He comes… — Julien Green Copy Share Image
“I have from the first felt sure that the writer, when he sits down to commence his novel, should do so, not… — Anthony Trollope Copy Share Image
I write about life as it exists within houses and on the streets. And there's nothing, hopefully, in any of my characterizations… — Richard Grossman Copy Share Image
Language leads a double life - and so does the novelist. You chat with family and friends, you attend to your correspondence,… — Martin Amis Copy Share Image
There are so many other people involved in the making of a play or a television series or whatever... even if you're… — Peter Morgan Copy Share Image
I know that books I have written will still resonate in 50 years - particularly 'My Sister's Keeper.' It has sold three… — Jodi Picoult Copy Share Image
“The lady who works in the grocery store at the corner of my block is called Denise, and she's one of America's… — Dave Gibbons Copy Share Image
“Novelists when they write novels tend to take an almost godlike attitude toward their subject, pretending to a total comprehension of the… — Hermann Hesse Copy Share Image
The problems you have as a novelist tend to have to do with making a living and trying to find ways to… — Michael Chabon Copy Share Image
“Nonetheless, a question remains before us all the same: what is a novelist to do with ordinary, completely "usual" people, and how… — Fyodor Dostoyevsky Copy Share Image
“As a matter of fact I don’t care two pins about accuracy. Who is accurate? Nobody nowadays. If a reporter writes that… — Agatha Christie Copy Share Image
“The serious writer has always taken the flaw in human nature for his starting point, usually the flaw in an otherwise admirable… — Flannery O'Connor Copy Share Image
“A poetess is not as selfish as you assume. After months of agonising over her marriage of words—the bride— and spaces—the groom,… — Kamand Kojouri Copy Share Image
“I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book:… — Roman Payne Copy Share Image
![“I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.)... 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'] ...two of them said that, after death, the [sic…” quote by Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/9ee/roman-payne-1959_advice-for-writers_i-ran-across-an-excerpt-today-in-english_2690369.jpg)
