After Quote by Robert M. Pirsig

I had written a book. For various reasons, the publishing industry had decided that my book was going to be 'important.' The novel had…

— Akhil Sharma

If I hadn't been able to get my first book published, I am not sure what I would have done.

— Sara Sheridan

I thought when I started writing that I'd have a book out in four or five years, and as it became apparent that that…

— Ben Fountain

With all editing, no matter how sensitive - and I've been very lucky here - I react sulkily at first, but then I settle…

— Michael Morpurgo

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

— Wilbur Smith

I knew I wanted to write novels, but I could not finish what I started. The closer I got, the more ways I'd find…

— Steven Pressfield

At thirty-five, having spent over twenty years running varied businesses for my family, I decided to sit down and write my first novel. I…

— Ashwin Sanghi

I started writing 'Normal People' not knowing that anyone would read it, not knowing that anyone would read the first book, so I didn't…

— Sally Rooney

I'd never written a novel before, and I wrote a novel, and that turned out OK.

— Rainbow Rowell

My hope when I wrote the first book was that I would get to do it again. But it was not entirely clear that…

— John Hodgman

I don't think I began to be a professional writer until I learned my weaknesses and what I couldn't do. This forced me to…

— Robert Cormier

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