Books Quote by Neil Gaiman

As an author, one of the most important things I think you can do once you've written a novel is step back. When the…

— Madeline Miller

When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that…

— Joyce Carol Oates

Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. With each new…

— Haruki Murakami

Like most writers, I look back on all of my finished works with utter regret, and the trouble with writing a series of novels…

— Daniel Handler

Writing is a strange and solitary activity. There are dispiriting times when you start working on the first few pages of a novel. Every…

— Patrick Modiano

A novel ensures that we can look before and after, take action at whatever pace we choose, read again and again, skip and go…

— William Golding

After you finish a book, the story still goes on in your mind. You can never change the beginning. But you can always change…

— Sarah Addison Allen

Only when you have completed a novel, or a story, can you return to the beginning and revise or rewrite.

— Joyce Carol Oates

You have to wait for your mind to catch up with whatever it is it’s working on; then you can write a novel.

— James M. Cain

I wish I could go back and re-write my first novel for the first time. Because I really didn't know what I was doing,…

— Peter Straub

Every time you finish something ... you figure you've finally learned to write, right? Then you start something else and it turns out you…

— Grace Paley

I think the main thing to remember when writing a novel is to stay true to the characters.

— Cassandra Clare