I start writing, pull whatever images happen to occur to me and make up a story, instead of starting with details that… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
While writing is a mystical process, it's also work. If you show up to work five days in a row, nobody's going… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
Books are like rocks. You hold one in your hand and look at it in various lights to get a sense of… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
I wrote short stories when I was a teenager, but they weren't any good and I kinda knew it. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
I know it's a cliché to say I write for myself, but I write for myself. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
I'm finding things out about myself as a person - as a writer - as I write, and so are the people… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
When I was kid, they always used to tell me to keep notebooks. I look at my shelves now and it's just… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
I don't write my own publicity materials, I just read 'em and give 'em the OK. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“But secret agents, like God, only give signs to their confidants. They are also very cruel and even unhappy at times. At any rate,… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“I am heavy in his arms, and I feel safe there, but I am lost, and I need constantly to be shoring up the… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
The more I learn about stuff the more conscious I become of grave gaps in my knowledge. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
If you get into a fight and somebody punches you, you get two feelings. One: That really hurts. Two: That relief in the realness… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
When I was a kid, I was a big science fiction fan, but current horror books were harder to get your hands on. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
It's impossible to be content all the time - you have to learn to be content in places where you're unhappy and owning your… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“It's in the nature of the landscape to change, and it's in the nature of people to help the process along...” — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
Everybody is in various states of needing to transcend something. I believe in mental health care, but when we call people "crazy," we exclude… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“But resiliency only means that a thing retains its shape. That it doesn’t break, or lose its ability to function. It doesn’t mean a… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“One thing I’ve learned is it’s better sometimes, in the weeds, to resist the temptation to stand up and follow the compass. *” — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
People always talk about good time rock and roll, Chuck Berry or whatever, like this liberating force for feeling good. But what I need… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
It's hard always to say what it is one likes about a place, for me. I feel it. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
“Another nagging little question lodged like a bit of grapeshot in his chest. It was nothing major, but the place where he stored them… — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
I'm not really a goal-oriented guy. I started doing the Mountain Goats just for the sheer hell of it. — John Darnielle Copy Share Image
