The first thing to ask when writing a sentence is 'What am…

“I can still remember the miraculous feeling of writing a sentence, then more sentences, telling a story. The first thing I wrote was a…

— Henning Mankell

A novel, basically, is writing one sentence — then, without violating the scope of the first one, writing the next sentence.

— Anonymous

Early on in the writing, there is often a sentence that pins down a character for me.

— Amor Towles

There's a marvelous sense of mastery that comes with writing a sentence that sounds exactly as you want it to. It's like trying to…

— Susan Orlean

I can never understand why people who have not seen me for a while ask if I am still writing. They might as well…

— Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

“When people ask me why I'm writing 15 books, I tell them I didn't choose to write 15 books, they chose me!!”

— Diem Burden

That's all you have to ask from yourself writing a book. That it's the best you can do and that you did it without…

— Sandra Cisneros

“When someone gives you advice, just ask them to give it in writing and they will either keep mum or will run from there.”

— Amit Kalantri

I abide by a rule concerning reviews: I will never ask, neither in writing nor in person, that a word be put in about…

— Anton Chekhov

I'm still startled when people ask me for writing advice.

— Ayobami Adebayo

“If there’s a single idea I emphasize when people ask about writing, it’s that there’s no right way to produce a book. But I…

— Charles Finch

When people ask me which I would rather give up, writing or medicine, it's like being asked which eye I'd prefer to have poked…

— Chris Adrian

We can skip through a lot of the stuff people might ask about the writing of the book, and so their comments always start…

— Chang-Rae Lee

They ask me what I'm writing for - I'm writing to show you what we're fighting for.

— Talib Kweli

Sometimes I ask myself if writing novels is even respectable.

— Lorrie Moore