Essay Quote by Lord Justice Topes

Writing is investigation.

— Naomi Alderman

Don't be an examiner, be the interested inquirer.

— Studs Terkel

Good writing is often about trying to investigate something you feel is missing and trying to put it back.

— Abi Morgan

“As an author, this is my integrity question: 'If horses could read, would they approve of what I write?”

— Joanne Verikios

“A writer who does not write is a deplorable thing, like an emaciated dog lost from home.”

— Wesley D. Gray

You can include essay elements in fiction; this is a very nineteenth century practice.

— Susan Sontag

Are you a reader? If you aren't a reader, you might as well forget trying to be a writer.

— Wallace Stegner

Writing is like a bird-watcher watching for birds: the stories are there: you just have to train yourself to look for them.

— Barbara Mertz

“The essence of writing? A hound chasing a fox: irrationally compelled to win the prize and eventual disappointment that it's eluded you.”

— Carol Morgan

“Drawing conclusions is up to the jury, that is, the readers. My only job is to be talented, that is, to know how to…

— Janet Malcolm

“There are three certainties in a writer's life: death, taxes, and rejection letters.”

— T.L. Rese

An essay is a work of literary art which has a minimum of one anecdote and one universal idea.

— Carol Bly