“Stephenson sees two mutually exclusive options: He can write good novels at a regular rate, or he can answer a lot of… — Cal Newport Copy Share Image
“After all, much of the fondness avid readers, and certainly collectors, have for their books is related to the books' physical bodies.… — Allison Hoover Bartlett Copy Share Image
Good books are to the young mind what the warming sun and the refreshing rain of spring are to the seeds which… — Horace Mann Copy Share Image
Unless a writer lives with a periodic delusion of his greatness, he will not continue writing. He must believe, against all reason… — Leonard Bishop Copy Share Image
Before I started working on a computer, writing a piece would be like making something up every day, taking the material and… — Joan Didion Copy Share Image
“ABOUT SENTIMENTALITY IN LITERATURE: "Sentimental fiction is a kind of pablum: Excessive amounts can spoil the appetite for reality, or at least… — Alice Simpson Copy Share Image
Oh, I don't keep a journal. How you remember an incident is dictated by your emotional state at the time. How you… — Alexandra Fuller Copy Share Image
“Novel writing is mostly triage (this now, that later) and obstinacy. Trying something, and when that doesn't work, trying something else. Welcoming… — Richard Russo Copy Share Image
My theory is that literature is essential to society in the way that dreams are essential to our lives. We can't live… — Joyce Carol Oates Copy Share Image
“I love making up stories. I love getting lost in other worlds and being with other characters. I love the way I… — Carolyne Aarsen Copy Share Image
For a writer you have to be interested in different cultures, different backgrounds. You are not there to write only about your… — Paulo Coelho Copy Share Image
It used to take me forever to read and comprehend stuff, so I decided not to make the 'Captain Underpants' books too… — Dav Pilkey Copy Share Image
Professed authors who overestimate their vocation are too full of themselves to be agreeable companions. The demands of their egotism are inveterate.… — Henry Theodore Tuckerman Copy Share Image
“The realization that a decline in the moral state impedes the flowering of literature is a feeling unique to the Jewish people.… — Rabbi Kook Copy Share Image
I write two hours in the morning and two hours before bed no matter. No matter what. I also write during the… — Kiese Laymon Copy Share Image
The librarian spoke in a reverential whisper. Corliss knew she'd misjudged this passionate woman. Maybe she dressed poorly, but she was probably… — Sherman Alexie Copy Share Image
What do teachers and curriculum directors mean by 'value' reading? A look at the practice of most schools suggests that when a… — Kelly Gallagher Copy Share Image
I could not have written a novel if I hadn't been a journalist first, because it taught me that there's no muse… — Gillian Flynn Copy Share Image
I am a passionate nonfinisher. Life is too short, and there are too many great books to read, so if I lose… — Simon Sebag Montefiore Copy Share Image
“But when your heart is tired and dumb, your soul has need of ease, There’s none like the quiet folk who wait… — Margaret Widdemer Copy Share Image
But when you read books you almost feel like you're out there in the world. Like you're going on this adventure right… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
As far as being territorial about one's own life, that's a mistake for ANY writer. All writers everywhere, in every genre, are… — Lidia Yuknavitch Copy Share Image
“The evils arising from the loss of her uncle were neither trifling nor likely to lessen; and when thought had been freely… — Jane Austen Copy Share Image
The first draft of everything, I write longhand. One of the nice things about that is that it makes you keep going.… — Jonathan Dee Copy Share Image
“He who writes books that aim to convince is a comedian, too, just a comedian. What has he got to offer others,… — J.M.G. Le Clézio Copy Share Image
“The other night we talked about literature's elimination of the unessential, so that we are given a concentrated "dose" of life. I… — Anaïs Nin Copy Share Image
“The trouble with bookshops is that they are as bad as pubs. You start at one and then you drift to another,… — R.T. Campbell Copy Share Image
I'm a memoir writer. I try to understand the world by taking experiences I have and making them into a story, whether… — Staceyann Chin Copy Share Image
I wanted to write a book that talked about the emotions of children, which is the rainbow. We all have moods. We… — Dolly Parton Copy Share Image
“Writing keeps me at my desk, constantly trying to write a perfect sentence. It is a great privilege to make one’s living… — John Banville Copy Share Image
To me, a book is a book. A novel is a novel, and you have hundreds of possibilities, options, and they may… — Per Petterson Copy Share Image
“…a writer, like most artists, needs a partner who can act as the fuel to his artistic mind and soul, yet has… — Janvier Chouteu-Chando Copy Share Image
“Having an attack of self-doubt about your writing ability? Step #1 - Tell yourself - 'I'm the best damn writer there is,… — Jonathan Maas Copy Share Image
“What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise? Great, great question. In the world of writing, everyone… — Timothy Ferriss Copy Share Image
I figure 1000 words a day, or four pages, and sometimes I'll write more, but I'll try not to. Because I think… — Carolyn See Copy Share Image
“This is one of the chief differences between a child's experience of a favorite book and an educated adult's. For the adult,… — Laura Miller Copy Share Image
The thing is, for me, as a fiction writer, I don't think there's a finer testament to our lives than this thing… — Joshua Ferris Copy Share Image
the shop owner did not try to push the book on any of her customers. She knew that in the wrong hands… — Nicole Krauss Copy Share Image
“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then… — Friedrich Nietzsche Copy Share Image
Discover the times when you're most creative - mornings, nights, afternoons - and clear the time to work then. Many writers find… — Deborah Moggach Copy Share Image
