Poetry has saved me on occasions when people couldn't.
Writers are like tricksters. Their words lure us to embark on journeys and unlock our emotions.
A writer should feel deeply from his heart of the joys and sorrows of people. And he must write as honestly as possible. Then only can he claim to be a writer.
Happy children do not seem to grow up to be writers.
It takes great courage to write great books. Find your courage and find your voice.
The characters in my novels are my own unrealised possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by them. Each one has crossed a border that I myself have circumvented.
You are your own best teacher. ~Jimmy Buffett
There is only one thing that you write for yourself, and that is a shopping list.
The short story, I should point out, is perforce a labor of love in today's literary world; there's precious little economic incentive to write one...
Once I was asked be a seatmate on a trans-Pacific flight....what instruction he should give his fifteen-year-old daughters, who wanted to be a writer. [I said], Tell your daughter three things. Tell h...
I can still remember the miraculous feeling of writing a sentence, then more sentences, telling a story. The first thing I wrote was a one-page summary of Robinson Crusoe and I am so sorry I do not ha...
Anybody can find out if he is a writer. If he were a writer when he tried to write of some particular day he would find in the effort that he could recall exactly how the light fell and how the temp...
Flaubert had infinite correction to perform.
You cannot write in the chimney with charcoal.
After writing, there is the letting go part. Perfection is a myth; as we all get better by day.Allow yourself to grow in active practice, release that book to the world, and do better with the next on...
As a writer, self-doubt is useless. Get rid of it, rip it out like a weed and compost it.
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 Twitter.
Some writers are born. Others learn. I was born a writer but have a lot to learn.
Writers are disguised "sorcerers". Armed with their mighty pens, they cast spells on their readers using words that could pierce right through the heart and soul. If our writings moved you, made you c...
To those that don't believe I'm worth more than what they think of other authors, to hell with them. Call me arrogant and call the police of politeness on me if you wish, because I won't stop until an...