What’s strange is how many beginning writers seem to think…

Most beginning writers - and I was the same - are like chefs trying to cook great dishes that they've never tasted themselves. How…

— Daniel Quinn

One thing about beginning writers is that they don't really always know their own strengths and weaknesses - you might think you're bad at…

— Jeff VanderMeer

When you finally start to write something, do not let yourself stop...even when you are convinced it's the worst garbage ever. This is the…

— Jodi Picoult

When you first start writing-and I think it's true for a lot of beginning writers-you're scared to death that if you don't get that…

— Toni Morrison

Don't mistake a good setup for a satisfying conclusion - many beginning writers end their stories when the real story is just ready to…

— Stanley Schmidt

A writer, or a beginning writer, is faced by the huge walls of self-consciousness. Most people think, "What if I say the wrong thing?…

— Richard Bach

One of the biggest problems for beginning writers is this need to over-explain.

— Scarlett Thomas

Beginning writers are often advised to 'write what you know,' and since I knew about quilters - their quirks, their inside jokes, their disputes…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Beginning writers must appreciate the prerequisites if they hope to become writers. You pay your dues - which takes years.

— Alex Haley

I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

— James A. Michener

Be persistent. Editors change; tastes change; editorial markets change. Too many beginning writers give up too easily.

— John Jakes

So often with beginning writers, the story that they want to start with is the most important story of their life - my molestation,…

— Chuck Palahniuk

Less really is more. It's a tendency of beginning writers to want to prove what they're talking about by going too far with description.…

— Brad Thor

“It seems important to me that beginning writers ponder this—that since 1964, I have never had a book, story or poem rejected that was…

— Joseph Hansen

The most basic definition of a story is 'Somebody wants something and something's in his way,' and I'm more likely to be engaged if…

— Mark Waid