All fiction comes from a little bit of reality, otherwise it would have no relevance. The fun is in innovation, take something… — Garrison Keillor Copy Share Image
Many first-time authors are not concerned about the advance or royalties, they want the notoriety. They get smarter on their second book… — Dan Poynter Copy Share Image
It is important to find a publisher and equally important not to be noticed until your third or fourth book. — Colm Toibin Copy Share Image
His hands were weak and shaking from carrying far too many books from the bookshop. It was the best feeling. — Joseph Gordon-Levitt Copy Share Image
[Louis] Brandeis improves the prose. He simplifies it and perfects the balance of the sentence so it becomes even more memorable and… — Jeffrey Rosen Copy Share Image
“it is very well worth-while to be tormented for two or three years of one's life, for the sake of being able… — Jane Austen Copy Share Image
I am thinking of keeping a diary, not with the intend to publish it, merely to record the facts for the information… — Leo Szilard Copy Share Image
When I read any book, if it's really good I get lost in the writing whether it's fiction or non-fiction. I'm in… — Jeff Feuerzeig Copy Share Image
“Each and every one of us has moments like these, times when a book becomes more than a book. It is a… — Emily Asher-Perrin Copy Share Image
Ideas are only lethal if you suppress and don't discuss them. Ignorance is not bliss, it's stupid. Banning books shows you don't… — Anna Quindlen Copy Share Image
“The mall looked deserted, and there was only one bulb on the ground floor to guide him to the winding staircase that… — Charlie Jane Anders Copy Share Image
Autobiography is the most fascinating thing you can do because you get to touch the human condition. And in the end, what… — Jim Dine Copy Share Image
I'm a big fan of things in writing in general that are subtle, that suggest something without actually in-your-face saying it. And… — Nina Nastasia Copy Share Image
“Novelty. Security. Novelty wouldn't be a bad title. It had the grandness of abstraction, alerting the reader that large and thoughtful things… — John Crowley Copy Share Image
What has a writer to be bombastic about? Whatever good a man may write is the consequence of accident, luck, or surprise,… — Edward Dahlberg Copy Share Image
When I first read Anne Frank's 'Diary of a Young Girl,' I saw for the first time that a girl could be… — Kate Bernheimer Copy Share Image
Freud did some serious damage to American literature - a lot of writers began therapy in the 1940s, after which they all… — Gore Vidal Copy Share Image
I never sit down to write. When I'm moved, I do it. I just wait for it to come. You just hear… — Lenny Kravitz Copy Share Image
If you believe that no one was ever corrupted by a book, you have also to believe that no one was ever… — Irving Kristol Copy Share Image
I know I'm not a great writer. I'm an extremely gifted oral communicator, but when it comes to writing, I'm just a… — Marianne Williamson Copy Share Image
I think when you write, you should call it a "writing spree." I don't write every day, and I don't write regularly. — Etgar Keret Copy Share Image
Read first the best books. The important thing for you is not how much you know, but the quality of what you… — Desiderius Erasmus Copy Share Image
I don't want to write for adults. I want to write for readers who can perform miracles. Only children perform miracles when… — Astrid Lindgren Copy Share Image
Opinionated writing is always the most difficult... simply because it involves retaining in the cold morning-after crystal of the printed word the… — Gavin Lyall Copy Share Image
Writing well has everything to do with being able to read one's own work with an eye toward the unmet possibilities that… — Lucy Calkins Copy Share Image
“As far back as I can remember I would escape from my humdrum world by burying myself in books--the one true love… — Bookends Jane Green Copy Share Image
When I'm writing a book, I draw from my immediate experience, and my books are therefore almost a snapshot of where I… — Maria Semple Copy Share Image
I'm an avid reader. Novels, non-fiction, comics, it doesn't matter. Best way in the world to feed your head. — Reid Scott Copy Share Image
Contrary to what many of you may imagine, a career in letters is not without its drawbacks - chief among them the… — Fran Lebowitz Copy Share Image
The dedication of this book is split seven ways: to Neil, to Jessica, to David, to Kenzie, to Di, to Anne, and… — Anonymous Copy Share Image
As a writer, you don't know what the hell you're doing. You're just doing it. You hope it works out well. — John Edgar Wideman Copy Share Image
For now, feeling as though my own brain were unhinged or as if the shock had come which must end in its… — Bram Stoker Copy Share Image
I've always been a little bit more of a novel reader than a short story reader. I think the first books that… — Nell Freudenberger Copy Share Image
I prefer short stories, but publishers would, of course, rather that writers produce novels, since novels are still more commercially viable. — Charles Baxter Copy Share Image
I like writing for children. It seems to me that most people underestimate their understanding and the strength of their feelings and… — Nina Bawden Copy Share Image
“It’s a shame they do that,” he says, thumbing through the pages. “Requirement ruins even the best of books.” — Victoria Schwab Copy Share Image
But there's no one here. There's just books. I mean it's not the books, is it? I mean it can't be the… — Donna Noble Copy Share Image
I was full time on 'Party of Five' for one year, then more like a creative consultant for two years, where I… — Susannah Grant Copy Share Image
I'm always interested in people being able to share stories that allow us to see the landscape of human foibles, challenges, and… — Oprah Winfrey Copy Share Image
“Do you have any idea how hard a story is to write? My brain is jumpy, and my heart doesn't know where… — Jenny Hubbard Copy Share Image