The difference between writers and readers is similar to the difference between expressionism and impressionism. Writers want to express themselves and readers want to be impressed.
Books. They are lined up on shelves or stacked on a table. There they are wrapped up in their jackets, lines of neat print on nicely bound pages. They look like such orderly, static things. Then you,...
Thanks for being the kind of person who likes to pick up a book. That's a genuinely great thing. I met a librarian recently who said she doesn't read because books are her job and when she goes home,...
Every reader wants the same thing: to open the cover of a book and watch the words explode like fireworks off the page.
As readers, we are seldom interested in the fine sentiments of a lesson learnt; we seldom care about the good manners of morals. Repentance puts an end to conversation; forgiveness becomes the stuff o...
To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history.
And it is no true wisdom that you offer your disciples, but only its semblance, for by telling them of many things without teaching them anything, you will make them seem to know much, while for the m...
Writing is a craft, being an author is work, and having readers and a following is a gift.
The odd thing about people who had many books was how they always wanted more.
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 was on my mind.
Of all books printed, probably not more than half are ever read. Many are embalmed in public libraries; many go into private quarters to fill spaces; many are glanced at and put away...scarcely opened...
If every library is in some sense a reflection of its readers, it is also an image of that which we are not, and cannot be.
Those who generate fog are Wizards of Oz hoping desperately that nobody pulls the curtain to reveal a trembling little writer behind it. This seldom happens. Readers who dare to point out that incompr...
We were all serious readers, sitting on wooden chairs at rows of lecterns, turning the pages, united in mutual love of isolation.
I hope for what I always hope for as a writer: a critical but kind reader. I think that is what we all hope for.
Novelists are basically inviting their readers to play a game of pretend. That's what fiction is: a game of pretend.
Readers can surprise you. Many times, they notice layers in your stories, that even you were not aware of while writing.
Lost: The common sense of an unconventional dreamer. If found, please return to Love The Stacks.
I believe that being able to communicate directly with readers is a boon. I certainly enjoy it as much as they do.
Most non-readers are nothing but an agglomeration of third-hand opinion and blindly received wisdom.