“ (1) the Muse visits during, not before, the act of composition, and (2) the writer takes dictation from that place in… — Roger Ebert Copy Share Image
I had a mother who walked to the library with me, and you can't walk to a lot of libraries in San… — Sandra Cisneros Copy Share Image
There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It… — Mark Twain Copy Share Image
I know people who read and read, and for all the good it does them, they might as well cut bread and… — Arnold Bennett Copy Share Image
“You have asked two questions, and I will answer them separately,” Gray said. “Trollope writes with precision and feeling about love and… — Colm Tóibín Copy Share Image
“I should be campaigning for his release in print in a way that appeared crusading but actually wasn’t quite effective enough to… — Jon Ronson Copy Share Image
A book, like a person, has its fortunes with one; is lucky or unlucky in the precise moment of its falling in… — Walter Pater Copy Share Image
I love the Russian absurdists - [Nikolai] Gogol,[Daniil] Kharms, and [Vladimir] Bulgakov. Even within the Russian experimentalists, there's a lineage of traditional… — Alexander Weinstein Copy Share Image
As soon as I got into the library I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I got a whiff of… — Christopher Paul Curtis Copy Share Image
“One of the great diseases of this age is the multitude of books that doth so overcharge the world that it is… — Barnaby Rich Copy Share Image
And when I was young, did I ever tell you, I always wanted to get inside a book and never come out… — Peter Ackroyd Copy Share Image
I used to feel that I spent too much of my time in my pajamas doing nothing, and I'd think 'in the… — Elizabeth Wurtzel Copy Share Image
“People often ask me what advice I have for writers, and I reply that the most important responsibility I believe a writer… — Clive Barker Copy Share Image
My brother and I were able to fantasize far more extravagantly about our parents' tastes and desires, their aspirations and their vices,… — Anne Fadiman Copy Share Image
I want to offer a word of encouragement to authors: You have to feel called to the message of your book enough… — Jud Wilhite Copy Share Image
A lot of new writers assume you have to know the where the story is going and that it flows out as… — Patrick Rothfuss Copy Share Image
Don't try to guess what sort of thing editors want to publish or what you think the country is in a mood… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people… — George Saunders Copy Share Image
A writer with her work needs to be like a dog with a bone all the time. She needs to know where… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
'Pastoralia' by George Saunders. Possibly my favorite book. It's one of the weirdest books I've ever read. If Monty Python and Thomas… — Libba Bray Copy Share Image
“I have no idea whether beginning with my accident was the best decision, as I've never written a book before. Truth be… — Andrew Davidson Copy Share Image
I am a hopeless pantser, so I don't do much outlining. A thought will occur to me, and I'll just throw it… — Marie Lu Copy Share Image
“Indeed, and crucially so, the serial form took the control of the novel away from the reader and left him in an… — Ian Gregor Copy Share Image
What helps writers, and ultimately, obviously, helps the actors - who should serve the words that the writer puts on the page… — John C. McGinley Copy Share Image
I believe that today more than ever a book should be sought after even if it has only one great page in… — Henry Miller Copy Share Image
“I had long ago learned that books are the best presents you can buy for a person--except me. I like toys. But… — Gary Reilly Copy Share Image
“Reading lives is the primary activity. Reading literature, although we engage in it more intentionally and more mindfully, is the secondary one.… — William L. Randall Copy Share Image
Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is… — Diane Setterfield Copy Share Image
“For the price of a modest meal you can ponder the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, the origin of species,… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
I always think about the books I'm doing in pretty much the same way. I'm simply trying to write that particular novel… — Peter Straub Copy Share Image
My stories often begin with a situation or character rather than an insight about the human condition. It's always been difficult for… — Karl Iagnemma Copy Share Image
“I write to make peace with the things I cannot control. I write to create red in a world that often appears… — Terry Tempest Williams Copy Share Image
I do sometimes miss doing that lighter, more humorous work, and I find there's a heavier responsibility that goes along with a… — Alison Bechdel Copy Share Image
I'd like to emphasize that when a reader finishes a great novel, he will immediately begin looking for another. If someone loves… — David Farland Copy Share Image
Rewriting is the essence of writing well: it's where the game is won or lost. The idea is hard to accept. We… — William Zinsser Copy Share Image
“My favorite book is God-Shaped Hole. It’s not a classic. It’s better than a classic. It’s a modern-day tragedy. I’ve never read… — Colleen Hoover Copy Share Image
I know that the last thing a book wants is to just sit around unread, serving as an element of interior decorating.… — Barbara Ehrenreich Copy Share Image
These days, my subjects are murder and mayhem and other terrible things that happen to people - things that are even worse… — Linwood Barclay Copy Share Image
Good writing is good writing. In many ways, it’s the audience and their expectations that define a genre. A reader of literary… — Rosemary Clement-Moore Copy Share Image
“We have no time to waste on insignificant books, hollow books, books that are there to please... We want books that cost… — Laurence Cossé Copy Share Image
![“I love the Russian absurdists - [Nikolai] Gogol,[Daniil] Kharms, and [Vladimir] Bulgakov. Even within the Russian experimentalists, there's a lineage of traditional narrative, conflict, and character development, which I find vital to my storytelling.” quote by Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b7/alexander-weinstein-17341_character_i-love-the-russian-absurdists-nikolai-go_2478186.jpg)
