You won't find a publisher until you have written the book and you won't find the time till you sit down, stay… — Carol Drinkwater Copy Share Image
The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish. — Terry Southern Copy Share Image
“I've seen many strange things in my work, my friend, but a wealthy lawyer who leaves everything to go write sonnets is… — Carlos Ruiz Zafón Copy Share Image
One of the paradoxes of writing is that when you write non-fiction everyone tries to prove that it's wrong, and when you… — Scarlett Thomas Copy Share Image
“These things are going to eat away at me... I rewrite the script in my head until it's 100-proof poison, and none… — Nick Hornby Copy Share Image
I write about my life, choosing incidents that I think will be, for one reason or another, significant to people. Often because… — Harvey Pekar Copy Share Image
What interests me very much as a writer is the ability for writing to have our lives to be occupied so vividly… — Nicole Krauss Copy Share Image
On the day when a young writer corrects his first proof-sheet he is as proud as a schoolboy who has just got… — Charles Baudelaire Copy Share Image
“You can begin a story in the middle and create confusion by striking out boldly, backward and forward. You can be modern,… — Gunter Grass Copy Share Image
I write the paragraph, then I'm crossing out, changing words, trying to improve it. When it seems more or less OK, then… — Paul Auster Copy Share Image
Gary Shteyngart has written a memoir for the ages. I spat laughter on the first page and closed the last with wet… — Mary Karr Copy Share Image
A cop told me, a long time ago, that there’s no substitute for knowing what you’re doing. Most of us scribblers do… — George V. Higgins Copy Share Image
Reading, for me, is like this: consumptive, pleasing, calming, as much as edifying. It's how I feel after a good dinner. That's… — Tara Bray Smith Copy Share Image
It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have… — Frank Yerby Copy Share Image
“withdrew her poetry book and flipped to page fifty-two. When the bell rang she stuffed her book back inside. Everyone leapt from… — Nikki Jefford Copy Share Image
I can't imagine what it would be like to write in a relaxed state. I'm going to be writing some stories for… — Kate Atkinson Copy Share Image
There is little pride in writers. They know they are human and shall some day die and be forgotten. Knowing all this… — William Saroyan Copy Share Image
“That which others hear or read of, I felt and practised myself; they get their knowledge by books, I mine by melancholizing.” — Robert Burton Copy Share Image
Early on, I tried fiction, but I wasn't very good at it. I wrote a very bad novel that is thankfully sitting… — David Grann Copy Share Image
You should constantly write because your writing is always evolving and progressing. It's really important to start writing young. — Ellie Goulding Copy Share Image
At home, I dedicate occasional whole days to reading as if I’m a convalescent. The ideal place for this is the bath,… — Rachel Kushner Copy Share Image
I feel like I'm a secondary artist, a kind of a conduit for the writer, and if it's a good writer, then… — Mamie Gummer 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
Be Careful Of Books. Be Careful With Books. Be Careful Or One Can Become A Weapon-Wielder. Be Careful Or One Can Become… — Cai Guo-Qiang Copy Share Image
“When writing fiction, you learn to only put things and characters in, that are going to progress your story. There is something… — Carl Henegan Copy Share Image
Authors are often sent a number of books to read for possible review and advance praise. It can be easy for new… — Kameron Hurley Copy Share Image
One day, when I own a house, I'll keep a library full of books. Books are different from other possessions-they're more like… — Blake Mycoskie Copy Share Image
I thought to myself, 'why not write a bestseller?' In the first place, more people buy them and more people read them.… — George Burns Copy Share Image
Autobiography, if there really is such a thing, is like asking a rabbit to tell us what he looks like hopping through… — Arthur Golden Copy Share Image
Stop trying to be author of your romantic fate...let the universe kick in and lend a hand. Not only will you end… — Anonymous Copy Share Image
“Life is a cracked surface at best. Fiction is a nice edifice. / every word/sentence/paragraph gives a writer an opportunity to reinforce… — K. J. Bishop Copy Share Image
The library in summer is the most wonderful thing because there you get books on any subject and read them each for… — Polly Horvath Copy Share Image
Well, I was a big fan of the book and therein a huge fan of the girl Precious. And so I felt… — Gabourey Sidibe Copy Share Image
I don't start a novel until I have lived with the story for awhile to the point of actually writing an outline… — John Grisham Copy Share Image
“The library at Pemberley was as freely open to her as it was to Darcy, and with his tactful and loving encouragement… — P.D. James Copy Share Image
Book readers are special people, and they will always turn to books as the ultimate pleasure. Those who do not read are… — Ruskin Bond Copy Share Image
After I work with my editor to get the manuscript in good shape, I sketch and lay out a whole book loosely,… — Adam Rex Copy Share Image
John Barth, I think, was really a writer of my own age and somewhat of my own temperament, although his books are… — John Updike Copy Share Image
“ (1) the Muse visits during, not before, the act of composition, and (2) the writer takes dictation from that place in… — Roger Ebert Copy Share Image
I had a mother who walked to the library with me, and you can't walk to a lot of libraries in San… — Sandra Cisneros Copy Share Image
