Good writers are those who keep the language efficient…

“Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear. It doesn't matter whether the…

— Ezra Pound

An ear will never do you wrong, but I know writers who... most of the language they use is just extracted language from other…

— Junot Diaz

As for most writers, language is vital for me: a writer's ability to render a fictional world - characters, landscape, emotions - into something…

— Dinaw Mengestu

… the truest writers are those who see language not as a linguistic process but as a living element…

— Derek Walcott

I don't particularly care about having [my characters] talk realistically, that doesn't mean very much to me. Actually, a lot of people speak more…

— Louis Auchincloss

Good writers have two things in common: they prefer to be understood rather than admired; and they do not write for knowing and over-acute…

— Friedrich Nietzsche

The good stories, of course, write themselves. And somebody wants to know who are the really good writers, and how many of them there…

— R. A. Lafferty

Usually people who do bad things make good writers.I did a lot of bad things, which is why my novels are interesting.

— Jakucho Setouchi

I always think that good writers should be growing up on the brink of death - it really lets them see mortality very clearly.

— Gary Shteyngart

Well, you know when people are no good at anything else they become writers.

— W. Somerset Maugham

“Most good writers are good psychologists.”

— Rachel Ballon

What makes a good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to…

— Jim Bishop

So many interviews, even ones that I consider really intelligent and good writers, will do the, like, 'Oh, you're not taking your clothes off…

— Lorde

I'm not famous for my back story investigations; I'm lucky that I work with good writers and it's usually in the script.

— Bill Nighy

You don't have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it's better if you're not--but you have to understand your…

— Peter Abrahams