To everyone who thinks writing a sequel should be easy because you’ve already clreated the universe: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! Heh. No.

When I began writing stories in exercise books I tried to put off all the things I really wanted to write about till at least the second page – I thought it would be like...

There’s only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that’s a writer sitting down to write.

I did point out that I have no prophetic gifts. I write books because I tried to do something more useful and failed. Since I’ve been trained to write, I do that as a defense...

There is only one trait that marks the writer. He is always watching. It’s a kind of trick of the mind and he is born with it.

A letter is always better than a phone call. People write things in letters they would never say in person. They permit themselves to write down feelings and observations using emotional syntax far more intimate...

To walk quietly until the miracle in everything speaks is poetry, whether we write it down or not.

Criticism can never instruct or benefit you. Its chief effect is that of a telegram with dubious news. Praise leaves no glow behind, for it is a writer’s habit to remember nothing good of himself....

When I write, my soul sings.

Pen-bereavement is a serious matter.

Writing is wretched, discouraging, physically unhealthy, infinitely frustrating work. And when it all comes together it’s utterly glorious.”National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Pep Talk

Writers wake up the world.

Writers fly with imaginary wings.

You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. We build this place with the...

No book can be written till it wants to be written, till it shouts to be written, and raises up a persistent din in the writer’s head. And then, if you want peace, you just...

Today I am amused, and I haven’t seen anyone yet.

In Irena’s head the alcohol plays a double role: it frees her fantasy, encourages her boldness, makes her sensual, and at the same time it dims her memory. She makes love wildly, lasciviously, and at...

The beach is not a place to work; to read, write or to think.

Fantasy is totally wide open; all you really have to do is follow the rules you’ve set. But if you’re writing about science, you have to first learn what you’re writing about.

Always be a poet, even in prose.

Life is a cracked surface at best. Fiction is a nice edifice. / every word/sentence/paragraph gives a writer an opportunity to reinforce or deliberately crack the edifice by screwing with meaning, structure, grammar, the fourth...

The thing all writers do best is find ways to avoid writing.

She wrote poetry constantly; that was her “work”. She was a slow bleeder and she slaved over it for long, exhausting hours, and many a middle of a night I could hear her creaking around...

nothing can save you except writing. it keeps the walls from failing.

Olaotan! Olaotan!! Olaotan!!! It’s half past time to write”, I only have three things at my disposal: A pen, A piece of paper, and a crowded mind.

(Live + Think) x Different = Write Different

Our words are often only vague, inadequate descriptions of our thoughts. Something gets lost in translation every time we try to express our thoughts in words. And when the other person hears our words, something...

Who will teach me to write? a reader wanted to know.The page, the page, that eternal blankness, the blankness of eternity which you cover slowly, affirming time’s scrawl as a right and your daring as...

It’s often a matter of sitting in front of the computer and worrying. It’s what writing comes down to–worrying that things aren’t going to work out.

Writing is a solitary occupation.

If you want help in starting to write memoirs, you don’t want to fall into the clutches of a famous writer who has been hired to teach at a writing workshop solely because of his...

This diary is my kief, hashish and opium pipe. This is my drug and my vice.

For any writer who wants to keep a journal, be alive to everything, not just to what you’re feeling, but also to your pets, to flowers, to what you’re reading.

I mean, what can you say about how you write your books? What I mean is, first you’ve got to think of something, and then when you’ve thought of it you’ve got to force yourself...

Don’t say the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream.

….and on occasion I like to write in pencil, because I need to know that I can erase the words, even if I never do.

Conditioning was something I always shied away from, now I’ve learnt that training never stops.

Regardless of the popular literary trend of the times, write the thing which lies close to your heart.

And ever, as the story drainedThe wells of fancy dry,And faintly strove that weary oneTo put the subject by,”The rest next time–” “It is next time!”The Happy voice cry.Thus grew the tale of Wonderland

Love hurts.Think back over romance novels you’ve loved or the genre-defining books that drive our industry. The most unforgettable stories and characters spring from crushing opposition. What we remember about romance novels is the darkness...

The art is more important than the artist. The work is more important than the person who does it. You must be prepared to sacrifice all the you could possibly have, be, or do; you...

As an experienced editor, I disapprove of flashbacks, foreshadowings, and tricksy devices; they belong in the 1980s with M.A.s in postmodernism and chaos theory.

Writing was a spiritual exercise for my father, the only thing he really believed in.

As much as I like it when a book I’m writing speeds along, the downside can be that an author becomes too eager to finish and rushes the end. The end is even more important...

Good fiction doesn’t claim to mirror reality at all. It indicts reality by providing a paradigm of shape and order and justice—the way we all know things should be—without suggesting that’s how things really are....

A word only writes Its night and ridesIts dream.

Writing may or may not be your salvation; it might or might not be your destiny. But that does not matter. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word....

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...

I realized Michael was right. I mean, I am always writing in this journal. And I do compose a lot of poetry, and write a lot of notes and emails and stuff. I mean, I...

One journalist complemented another that his article on a dispute, “had made both sides see themselves as they are.