“Pick an apocalypse, any apocalypse. A sea of black oil and dead things. No wind. No light. Nothing stirring, not even an… — John Gardner Copy Share Image
“...{N}othing is harder for the developing writer than overcoming his anxiety that he is fooling himself and cheating or embarrassing his family… — John Gardner Family Copy Share Image
“Though we run across exceptions, philosophical novels where explanation holds interest, the temptation to explain is one that should almost always be… — John Gardner Communication Copy Share Image
“My advice to you, my violent friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it.” — John Gardner Advice Copy Share Image
By the time you've run your mind through it a hundred times, relentlessly worked out every tic of terror, it's lost its… — John Gardner Psychology Copy Share Image
“I think there really is no other way to write a long, serious novel. You work, shelve it for a while, work,… — John Gardner Books Copy Share Image
“it’s a law of the universe that 87 percent of all people in all professions are incompetent.” — John Gardner Copy Share Image
“Part of the writer's problem may be thee wrong kind of appreciation: hen he does work he knows to be less than… — John Gardner First place Copy Share Image
“What the young writer needs to develop, to achieve his goal of becoming a great artist, is not a set of aesthetic… — John Gardner Art Copy Share Image
“Not everyone is capable of writing junk fiction: It requires an authentic junk mind.” — John Gardner Psychology Copy Share Image
“Shamash grant your wish. What your mouth has said, may your eyes see. May he open for you the barred path, unclose… — John Gardner Ur Eyes Copy Share Image
“A scene will not be vivid if the writer gives too few details to stir and guide the reader's imagination; neither will… — John Gardner Books Copy Share Image
“True artists, whatever smiling faces they may show you, are obsessive, driven people--whether driven by some mania or driven by some high,… — John Gardner Art Copy Share Image
“Talking, talking, spinning like a spell, pale skin of words that closes me in like a coffin.” — John Gardner Language Copy Share Image
“No fiction can have real interest if the central character is not an agent struggling for his or her own goals but… — John Gardner Failure Copy Share Image
“It was not always like this, of course. On occasion it's been worse.” — John Gardner Copy Share Image
“As in the universe every atom has an effect, however miniscule, on every other atom, so that to pinch the fabric of… — John Gardner Time Copy Share Image
“The best way in the world for breaking up a writer's block is to write a lot.” — John Gardner Advice Copy Share Image
“Another irritant is accidental rhyme, as in the sentence "When the rig blew, everything went flying sky-high--me too." Notice here that the… — John Gardner Copy Share Image
“Another bad cure is the sentence awkwardly stretched out by a "that" or "which" clause. For example, "Leaping from the couch he… — John Gardner Copy Share Image
Fiction does not spring into the world fully grown, like Athena. It is the process of writing and rewriting that makes a… — John Gardner Athena Copy Share Image
