A real writer [...] looks not in another writer but himself.

“A writer looks at an issue and asks, 'What if this were to occur? Or what if that was thrown into the mix? What…

— Venita Ellick

The writer in me can look as far as an African-American woman and stop. Often that writer looks through the African-American woman. Race is…

— Thylias Moss

“We are thus led to ask what the writer looks for and how he trains himself to look for it. The answer is: he…

— Jacques Barzun

When I got older I decided I wanted to be a real writer. I tried to write about real things. I wanted to describe…

— Nicole Krauss

“Make no mistake about it, Clot: I'm a real writer. I don't have the least intention of being happy, naturally.”

— Rafael Reig

Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day.

— Norman Mailer

“If I never received a bad review then I wouldn't be a real writer, but I much prefer the good ones”

— Charity Parkerson

Not all women write the same. But I don't understand why the model is that you're supposed to write like a man, and that…

— Molly Ringwald

I would never make up a character who didn't exist or an event that didn't transpire. If you're a real writer, you have other…

— Koren Zailckas

The writer who is a real writer is a rebel who never stops.

— William Saroyan

“If you are a real writer, then just surrender to the writer's life, all of it, even the bad stuff. When you do that,…

— Lauren B. Davis

The Onion Field made a real writer. And then I knew it was over, I couldn't be a cop anymore.

— Joseph Wambaugh

A real writer can be recognized by the fact he doesn't find words. Therefore he must search for them and while doing that, he…

— Paul Valery

I think of myself as a real writer, not just someone who dabbles in it, so I deserve some credit.

— Harold Ramis

The biggest achievement is to create silence. I think every real writer who has a passion to do justice to the world thinks this…

— Peter Handke