To be stories at all they must be a series of events: but it must be understood that this series – the plot, as we call it – is only really a new whereby to...

I was slightly thankful when Mom finally came out and unlocked the car. It was warm and toasty inside and it smelt like home. There was not the slightest smell of something that didn’t belong...

Expand your world. (Stories about wizards and spells) are very frequently about power relationships…

Fiction must convince our bodies for it to have any chance of convincing our minds.

She opened her eyes and looked into his rather intensely. “What?” Alex asked. “This cannot be.” “What can’t be?” Alex asked her, more bafflement in his voice this time. “I have been reading people all...

Writing is a solitary business. It’s just you and your characters and a blank page you need to fill.

The table was covered with food like roast chicken, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roast turkey, roast liquorice and, the centrepiece, a roasted knight.

And yet it was also true that the tumor could not be removed by our doctor, and as a result of that a strange medication had been given him that enabled my brother to become...

Misunderstandings arise only in undefined relationships

The other one was filled with loud and obnoxious tourists. Always boasting on winning a sand castle competition and seeing who could get tanned first. What a whacky bunch of people.

If she was going to write a novel, she felt defeated before she began, because someone might be coming along to pick it apart, looking for symbols like The Conch or The Whale, which seemed...

The vital power of an imaginative work demands a diversity within its unity; and the stronger the diversity the more massive the unity.

Danilo’s was the kind of place where many drinking men come to hide, be it from their wives, in-laws, their jobs or life in general. it was where men and women can come to drink...

I long for some connection, to the real and those who love them, and hope that my fiction can reach beyond the veil, that I might touch someone and make them feel something…or something.

An artist has an obligation to tell the truth. My novels are epic fantasy, but they are inspired by and grounded in history. Rape and sexual violence have been a part of every war ever...

Inside a wool jacket the man had made a pocket for the treasure and from time to time he would jiggle the pocket, just to make sure that it was still there. And when on...

There’s so much to learn. So much to enjoy. So terribly much to be curious about. Take your life and run with it. Make a habit of being alive. This much of anything, I have...

He sent it flying at full speed. It jumped six times as well, sending ripples across the sea. The small splashes of foam turned into miniature rainbows as they caught the light of the evening...

A related question is where in time to begin. Should you begin far back in a character’s past and move forward, or should you begin in the present and make use of flashbacks only where...

Basically, if the author is totally un-educated, then the text won’t bring out his best. Normal, educated people always understand that. But here’s the thing—when the author is very highly-educated, the result is the same:...

For his lunch break, Alex decided to sit outside for a smoke. There was no break room to speak of, just a backdoor that led to a neglected parking lot and an old payphone. There...

If you haven’t cried at least once while writing a chapter of your inspirational book, then you have to ask yourself if your’re writing fiction.

I knew that it was impossible for us to be kept apart for too long.

You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.

Perhaps the critics are right: this generation may not produce literature equal to that of any past generation–who cares? The writer will be dead before anyone can judge him–but he must go on writing, reflecting...

Have you lost your mind? What have I told you Charlie about whales? You can’t MANHANDLE THEM!

All writers struggle at some point with the problem of balance between authority and involvement, seduction and revelation. Specifically, beginning writers wonder how much description to employ, and more advanced writers ask how much plot...

The trouble with writing fiction is that it has to make sense, whereas real life doesn’t.

This whole show vs tell concept both bewilders and challenges my mind.

It’s hell writing and it’s hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.

Starting now,

I’m coming. I’m coming.”I heard his sandals click on the stairs and I waited to see if the mentalimage matched the real one. To my non surprise it did.

J.R.R.Tolkien has confessed that about a third of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring, some ruffian named Strider confronted the hobbits in an inn, and Tolkien was in despair. He didn’t know who...

So Mary gasped in disbelief as she heard the squeaking noise again, and the grandmother’s rocking chair was not moving at all. Then the grandmother opened her eyes and looked directly at her, holding her...

Grayson: Fiction is just a lie anyway.Brianna: But it’s not – it’s a different kind of truth – it would be your truth at the time of the writing, wouldn’t it?

Write it down and it will come alive.

Action is the pulse of any good story, but the character is the heart. If the action has no consequence to the character, the story loses heart.

Although nobody could ever know about our friendship, that wasn’t going to stop us from being together.

Go ahead, Josh. I’m listening now.”I could feel the cold emanating from her and flowing in my direction. Ithad been this way for a while I just didn’t want to see it.Danny and Josh looked...

He was always crazy about her. If he was a king then she was his crest– the emblem of his kingdom. Without her, his world is lost. He left his house or rather palace, now...

Everything was quiet now. It was even too freaky quiet. The house seemed big without anyone else inside. It felt lonely; like a ghost town.

Fueled by my inspiration, I ran across the room to steal the cup of coffee the bookshelf had taken prisoner. Lapping the black watery brew like a hyena, I tossed the empty cup aside. I...

Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.

Jika kita menyukai sesuatu, bagaimanapun keadaannya, kita hanya akan tetap menyukainya. Rasa suka itu tidak akan terpengaruh oleh faktor lain. Suka, ya, suka, dan akan begitu walau dilihat dari sudut pandang mana saja.

I watched her shadow merge with the darker colours of the deep sea.

I imagined a time when being gay is as unquestioned and un-judged as is having blue eyes. Some might call it fantasy or science fiction. I’d like to think it’s the future.

I don’t mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated. I don’t mind being told to stand on my own feet, not...

I could have drowned today. If they hadn’t been screaming my name so loudly and if I hadn’t woken up, I would have drowned.

Editing fiction is like using your fingers to untangle the hair of someone you love.

Family is a permanent adhesive that creates a lifetime bond.