AtomicQuote

Paul Auster Quote

I was in the book, and the book was in my head, and as long as I stayed inside my head, I could go on writing the book. It was like living in a padded cell, but of all the lives I could have lived at that moment, it was the only one that made sense to me. I wasn't capable of being in the world, and I knew that if I tried to go back into it before I was ready, I would be crushed.

Paul Auster

I was in the book, and the book was in my head, and as long as I stayed inside my head, I could go on writing the book. It was like living in a padded cell, but of all the lives I could have lived at that moment, it was the only one that made sense to me. I wasn't capable of being in the world, and I knew that if I tried to go back into it before I was ready, I would be crushed.

Tags: writing process

Related Quotes

I'm not a writer. Ernest Hemingway was a writer. I just have a vivid imagination and type 90 WPM.

Tiffany Madison

I'm not a writer. Ernest Hemingway was a writer. I just have a vivid imagination and type 90 WPM.

Tags: ernest hemingway, writing, writing craft, writing philosophy, writing process

And as your writing evolves, what you need and get from it evolves.

Darynda Jones

And as your writing evolves, what you need and get from it evolves.

Tags: advice for writers, writing, writing craft, writing process

I hope I don't write TOO many books! When I look at authors who have written too many books, I wonder to myself "When did they live?" I certainly want to write BECAUSE I live! I know I don't want to w...

C. JoyBell C.

I hope I don't write TOO many books! When I look at authors who have written too many books, I wonder to myself "When did they live?" I certainly want to write BECAUSE I live! I know I don't want to w...

Tags: books, expectations, ideals, inspirational, inspirational life, inspirational living, inspiring, life, life and living, living

When entering a library, I never forget to bow down!

Avijeet Das

When entering a library, I never forget to bow down!

Tags: books, bow down, library, life inspirational, reading books, reading for life, reading, writers life, writers on writing, writers world

I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in...

George R.R. Martin

I think there are two types of writers, the architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time, like an architect building a house. They know how many rooms are going to be in...

Tags: architect, craft, gardener, writers, writers on writing, writing, writing craft, writing process

The worst part of writing is meeting all these great new characters and having no one to talk about (the adventures you share with) them.

Claudia Bakker

The worst part of writing is meeting all these great new characters and having no one to talk about (the adventures you share with) them.

Tags: characters, characters in books, characters in novels, writing, writing books, writing process

Sometimes when I prepare to write, I feel the same sensation wash over me as if my toes were curling over the brink of a high cliff, my gaze peering downward into a dark pond, and I anxiously wonder,...

Richelle E. Goodrich

Sometimes when I prepare to write, I feel the same sensation wash over me as if my toes were curling over the brink of a high cliff, my gaze peering downward into a dark pond, and I anxiously wonder,...

Tags: author, authors on writing, richelle, richelle e goodrich, richelle goodrich, writing, writing process

You cannot write your character until you know how he or she thinks, until you know what their philosophy is in the world that they occupy.

Don Roff

You cannot write your character until you know how he or she thinks, until you know what their philosophy is in the world that they occupy.

Tags: amwriting, character, insightful, occupy, philosophy, philosophy of mind, philosophy of people, point of view, think, thinking

I still suspect that most people start out with some kind of ability to tell a story but that it gets lost along the way. Of course, the ability to create life with words is essentially a gift. If you...

Flannery O'Connor

I still suspect that most people start out with some kind of ability to tell a story but that it gets lost along the way. Of course, the ability to create life with words is essentially a gift. If you...

Tags: how to write, how to write fiction, talent, technique, writers, writers on writing, writing, writing books, writing class, writing fiction

As you write your novel, you gradually start thinking like some of your characters in it. And at times the writer may lose himself completely in some character.

Avijeet Das

As you write your novel, you gradually start thinking like some of your characters in it. And at times the writer may lose himself completely in some character.

Tags: characters in novels, novel writing, novelist, novelist and poet, on writing, writers on writing, writers on writing books, writing craft, writing process
About Paul Auster

Paul Benjamin Auster (February 3, 1947 – April 30, 2024) was an American writer, novelist, memoirist, and filmmaker. His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His books have been translated into more than 40 languages.