Letters are meaningless unless put together correctly. Words are worthless unless backed by truth. Sentences are handed out and judged accordingly, but only genuinely honest men or women can create writings that change the world...

Damn you, spoilt creature; I shan’t make you love me any the more by giving myself away like this.

The only way to be inclined to write is to write to your inclination.

TV is the place that writers want to be.

A writer will divine a metaphor from a pattern on a dress, or a gesture, because sunsets have been done before.

I loss Muse!

I want to assure you with all earnestness, that no writing is a waste of time, – no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work. With every sentence you write, you...

There was no point in doing art if you were going to be second-rate.

The only difference between writers and people who don’t write is that writers aren’t afraid to display their demons.

Editors can be stupid at times. They just ignore that author’s intention. I always try to read unabridged editions, so much is lost with cut versions of classic literature, even movies don’t make sense when...

A writer fails, not when a reader is not moved; but when, as a reader, the writer is not moved.

I am swimming in a sea of words, attempting to keep my head above water.

I mean. You put puppies in a store front, I will stop and giddily stare. Every. Single. Time.

The only way to write is to write. Writers write. And when they’ve written, they write some more.

Well, I definitely advise anyone who wants to write, write. Don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. Because a lot of people can be very discouraging...

A blanket would be a great surface to print my new book on, so you could read it in bed while you’re having boring, obligatory sex with your spouse, who’s as dry and exciting as...

I write whenever it suits me. During a creative period I write every day; a novel should not be interrupted.

With acting, you gotta wait until someone gives you a role in a play or movie. With writing, you’re not dependent on others, you don’t have to wait. You can sit down and just create.

Be passionate about what you write, believe in your ability to convey timeless ideas, and let no one tell you what what you’re capable of.

I wanted to be a politician and a movie star. But I was born a writer. If you’re born that, you can’t change it. You’re going to do it whether you want to or not.

Humility is an essential quality in writers who want to write well.

The Bible is the greatest book ever written.

When people talk to themselves they should listen more. That’s how writers are born.

Oh God how subtle he would have to be, how cunning… No paragraph, no phrase even of the thousands the book must contain could strike a discordant note, be less than fully imagined, an entire...

I want you to tell all these people that I wanted more time to spend with them. Tell them I meant to, tell them I wanted to hear what they said and tell them what...

I read daily, not so much for the benefit of my writing, but because I am addicted to it. There is nothing in the world for me that compares to being lost in a really...

How to Write with Style”. Essay, 1985)

A book is a place where my reality, escapism, hope, despair, love and death lie.

I sometimes think if I did not write I would be a madwoman. Now I am a sane woman with a lot of mad pages.

The hard necessity of bringing the judge on the bench down into the dock has been the peculiar responsibility of the writer in all ages of man.

When we sit down to write, we psychically enter a sanctuary. This safe haven is our own personal space where we can say whatever is on our mind, where we can talk about what matters...

Authors are sick people.

Write, write, write! Get your you-know-what in the chair and write more books: write the books of your heart and don’t let stress steal your joy.

The sooner you finish procrastinating, the sooner you can get back to your art.

I now understand that writing fiction was a seed planted in my soul, though I would not be ready to grow that seed for a long time.

I’m against the picture of the artist as a starry-eyed visionary not really in control or knowing what he does. I’d almost prefer the word ‘craftsman’. He’s like one of those old-fashioned ship builders who...

The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a good day.”[Academy Award ceremony, March...

When male authors write love stories, the heroine tends to end up dead.

The new contract between writers and readers is one I’m prepared to sign up to. I’ve met some fascinating people at events and online. Down with the isolation of writers I say! And long live...

Although I write in English, and despite the fact that I’m from America, I consider myself an Armenian writer. The words I use are in English, the surroundings I write about are American, but the...

People like me write because otherwise we are pretty inarticulate. Our articulation is our writing.

I hoped at first to find a rather more direct comprehension of life in one or two novelists and poets; but if they really had such a comprehension, it must be confessed they did not...

There is a deeper, more profound reason for this craving for acceptance and glory. Put simply, it’s because all writers are fat and/or ugly. And generally socially inept. Me being the notable exception, of course....

While in England write or get wrought rotten rusted.

Hey Revision. You can be a pain but you do make Book better.

It’s a great paradox and a great injustice that writers write because we fear death and want to leave something indestructable in our wake, and at the same time, are drawn to things that kill:...

Yet while Vidal writes best about power, politics, and history White’s strengths are sex, art and – sometimes – love. Each tends to stumble when he enters the other’s domain.

There are books that change our perspectives and books that change our personalities.

I think there are writers who take a quieter approach to their work — one that is just about respectfully showing up for your vocation day after day, steadily doing your best, and letting go...

The swing between confronting the dangerous or brutal and the beautiful or the kind is one of the elements of being human that I have battled with all my life. That mixture of love and...