“Even when I don't have to write, I arrange it every morning with the pointless rigor that has made me lose so… — Gabriel García Márquez Copy Share Image
I don't really collect books. I tend to lose interest in them the minute I've read them, so most of the books… — Malcolm Gladwell Copy Share Image
“They always tell you to do what you love. But they forget to add that writing doesn't pay by the hour.” — Joyce Rachelle Copy Share Image
“Celia Bowen sits at a desk surrounded by piles of books. She ran out of space for her library some time ago,… — Erin Morgenstern Copy Share Image
“Empathy. Carlin always said it was the great value of fiction, to put us inside the minds of strangers.” — Erika Johansen Copy Share Image
My aunt got me interested in journalism - she found an old typewriter, had it worked over, put it on the dining… — Dan Jenkins Copy Share Image
I thought I'd write a massive postmodern novel about Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood, but it turns out they couldn't have… — Justin Cartwright Copy Share Image
It's interesting to see people overcome things. Because if you didn't overcome, you wouldn't be writing it. — Edwidge Danticat Copy Share Image
“Behind the naive vanities, the daydreams, they had very badly wanted to be writers. Had wanted it without knowing at all what… — David Sedaris Copy Share Image
“The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like. Write the kind of story you… — Austin Kleon Copy Share Image
Three characteristics a work of fiction must possess in order to be successful: 1. It must have a precise and suspenseful plot.… — Isaac Bashevis Singer Copy Share Image
Sometimes someone will tell me about an author I've never heard of before and that will send me to that person. That's… — Stephen Dobyns Copy Share Image
“We have an obligation to read aloud to our children. To read them things they enjoy. To read to them stories we… — Neil Gaiman Copy Share Image
One of the things that really impressed me about Anna Karenina when I first read it was how Tolstoy sets you up… — Elif Batuman Copy Share Image
“I wanted to be a writer, that's all. I wanted to write about it all. Everything that happens in a moment. The… — Michael Cunningham Copy Share Image
I know that the way to be a really successful writer is to write the same kind of book over and over… — Neil Gaiman Copy Share Image
I create doubt in the reader's mind. That is what literature is for: to provoke, to raise doubts, to talk about things… — Olga Tokarczuk Copy Share Image
“Before Miss Harrow’s departure Maud and Dora reached home. They were curious to see the young lady from the valley of the… — George Gissing Copy Share Image
“If you're going to fall in love with anyone, fall in love with a writer. Allow yourself to become immortalised in words.” — Jamie L. Harding Copy Share Image
“WHEN YOU LOVE SOMEONE YOU LEARN HOW TO FIGHT FAIR BECAUSE SOME HITS YOU CAN'T RECOVER FROM -HOPENATION” — Qwana Reynolds-Frasier Copy Share Image
If I'm writing a book, and I'm warned, 'Oh, this is unsaleable, you need to make it shorter,' or, 'It has to… — William T. Vollmann Copy Share Image
Writing a novel is like trying to solve a very long mathematical equation. Changing anything can change everything else. — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Try not to become disappointed if someone doesn't like a story you've written. Stick up for your ideas, but listen to what… — Margaret Mahy Copy Share Image
For while agents and editors often misunderstand their market and sometimes reject good or even great works, they do prevent a vast… — Laura Miller Copy Share Image
“Books, by imparting a sense of continuity and context, can enlarge the imagination and enable one to weigh evidence, compare and contrast… — Kipling Buis Copy Share Image
Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep, for your habits and character will be as… — Anonymous Copy Share Image
I'm not a fast reader. I like to linger over each sentence, enjoying the style. If I don't enjoy the writing, I… — Haruki Murakami Copy Share Image
“So nothing will ever be written down again. Perhaps the act of writing is necessary only when nothing happens.” — Kōbō Abe Copy Share Image
I don't write easily or rapidly. My first draft usually has only a few elements worth keeping. I have to find what… — Susan Sontag Copy Share Image
My energies get used up quite quickly, and the psychic space I'm in when I write is a very lonely one, so… — Michel Faber Copy Share Image
The first time I read an excellent book, it is to me just as if I had gained a new friend. When… — Oliver Goldsmith Copy Share Image
I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called… — Amy Tan Copy Share Image
I love working with genre. And to me, the Victorian novel is the flourishing ancestor I'm always trying to access when I… — Jennifer Egan Copy Share Image
The difference between fiction and journalism is that you can disguise the characters, so you won't get your legs broken, and there's… — Sylvie Simmons Copy Share Image
Writers are born, not made. We can hone the craft. We need to try to encourage someone and make a dialogue, suggesting… — Alan Zweibel Copy Share Image
I cannot write any sort of story unless there is at least one character in it for whom I have physical desire. — Tennessee Williams Copy Share Image
“To look at those (few) books in the dawning recognition that what they furnish is not a room, but a self.” — Rick Gekoski Copy Share Image
“Writing is like giving yourself homework, really hard homework, every day, for the rest of your life. You want glamorous? Throw glitter… — Katrina Monroe Copy Share Image
“A short story is a messenger from beyond mere thought, that wanders the Earth knocking on doors, praying for a soul that… — Richard Small Copy Share Image
“Many people think that the idea is the difficult part of writing a story, and this can be true. But there is… — William Herring Copy Share Image
