Books Quote by John Irving

As much as I really like the screenwriting thing, the novel is where the author has so much control.

— Gillian Flynn

I feel that I am a scholar who only with the left hand writes novels.

— Umberto Eco

I came into screenwriting from an odd direction, because the first screenplay that I read was and is better as writing than the top…

— William Monahan

I've only had four ideas for a novel in my life, and I've written all of them.

— Joseph Heller

Keep your hands moving. Writing is rewriting.

— August Wilson

Initially I only decided to try and write a novel because I wasn't getting enough screenwriting work. It wasn't a long-held ambition, and certainly…

— Stef Penney

My second, third and fourth novels were mistakes, essentially.

— John Burnside

If I tried to write long-hand, I suppose I'd never finish a novel. I edit too much as I write - the paper would…

— Nicholas Sparks

It's not my brain that's writing the book, it's these hands of mine.

— Madeleine L'Engle

And it is a folly to try to craft a novel for the screen, to write a novel with a screen contract in mind.

— Thomas Keneally

Writing a novel can be solitary at times compared to screenwriting, but I don't mind that.

— Ruth Jones

I don't really consider myself a novelist, it just came out purely by accident.

— Wole Soyinka