You write that first draft really to see how it's going to come out. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
A writer can make a fortune in America, but he can't make a living. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
“With my pen I have engraved warrants of citizenship in the most remote corners, for truly the world has been my home.” — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
The really great writers are people like Emily Bront� who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
If I were a young man, I would not hesitate at writing anything to get into print, except pornography. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I have only one bit of advice to the beginning writer: Be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I was brought up in the great tradition of the late nineteenth century: that a writer never complains, never explains and never… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
Many people who want to be writers don't really want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
The job of a storyteller is to tell stories, and I have concentrated on that obligation. — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
During my lifetime I have met dozens of writers and photographers in dozens of different countries. But I have encountered no one… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I have never thought of myself as a good writer. Anyone who wants reassurance of that should read one of my first… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
As a writer I have persisted in my uncertainty, alternating between novels which could charitably be considered literature and world reporting which… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I was a Navy officer writing about Navy problems and I simply stole this lovely Army nurse and popped her into a… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
If a young aspirant had a modicum of skill and a busy typewriter she or he would sooner or later get a… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
“The great writers, Conrad, Maugham and Melville, spent only a few years in the South Seas, but their memory of those waters… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
As a younger man I wrote for eight years without ever earning a nickel which is a long apprenticeship, but in that… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in.… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I am always interested in why young people become writers, and from talking with many I have concluded that most do not… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I write at eighty-five for the same reasons that impelled me to write at forty-five; I was born with a passionate desire… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
The rules seem to be these: If you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short stories. If you… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
I would suppose I learned how to write when I was very young indeed. When I read a child's book about the… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
“At times, working in big cities far from nature, I have been sick with nesomania, and I think the reason is this:… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
Russia, France, Germany and China. They revere their writers. America is still a frontier country that almost shudders at the idea of… — James A. Michener Copy Share Image
“[Very rich people] with brains make a great effort to hold on to every penny they have while preaching to the general population that… — James A. Michener Copy Share
As a writer I have persisted in my uncertainty, alternating between novels which could charitably be considered literature and world reporting which by another… — James A. Michener Copy Share
. . . Luddites were those frenzied traditionalists of the early 19th century who toured [England] wrecking new weaving machines on the theory that… — James A. Michener Copy Share
I am terrified of restrictive religious doctrine, having learned from history that when men who adhere to any form of it are in control,… — James A. Michener Copy Share
“This is not a promise, this is not threat, it's just the way it's gonna be!!!” — James A. Michener Copy Share
“We went into the night and for the first time in my life I saw the stars hanging low over the desert, for the… — James A. Michener Copy Share
The rules seem to be these: If you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short stories. If you have written… — James A. Michener Copy Share
“A Roman came to Rabbi Gimzo the Water Carrier, and asked, "What is this study of the law that you Jews engage in?" and… — James A. Michener Copy Share
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home — James A. Michener Copy Share
I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody… — James A. Michener Copy Share
“The chance emergence of the was nothing. Remember this. But its persistence and patient accumulation of stature were everything. Only by relentless effort did… — James A. Michener Copy Share
During my lifetime I have met dozens of writers and photographers in dozens of different countries. But I have encountered no one who could… — James A. Michener Copy Share
My work as a naval officer in World War II enabled me to serve on 49 different South Pacific islands so that I came… — James A. Michener Copy Share
