“I do not know anything about Art with a capital A. What I do know about is my art. Because it concerns me. I do not speak for others. So I do not speak for things which profess to speak for others. My art, however, speaks for me. It lights my way.”— Mark Z. Danielewski, amazon.com
“A good-enough novel violently written now is better than a perfect novel meticulously written never.”— Elizabeth Gilbert, amazon.com
“What is wrong with playing with words? Words love to be played with, just like children or kittens do!”— David Almond, amazon.com
“I don't believe in writers' block. Do doctors have 'doctors block?' Do plumbers have 'plumbers' block?" No. We all have days when we don't feel like working, but why do writers turn that into something so damn special by giving it a faintly romantic name.”— Larry Kahaner, amazon.com
“Writing is like riding a bike. Once you gain momentum, the hills are easier. Editing, however, requires a motor and some horsepower.”— Gina McKnight, amazon.com
“If you want to write, just write anything that comes into your mind. You will be surprised at how you can force inspiration to stand on your side.”— Bangambiki Habyarimana, amazon.com
“All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you'll never write a line. That's why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”— Erica Jong, amazon.com
“Write like you talk. I personally like that, and that’s why I think everyone has a book in them, because everyone has had things happen to them. Don’t be fancy if that’s not who you are. Don’t worry about that. I just put in my inner monologue in and then I’d just sort of keep it and it kind of work…”— Cat Marnell, hellogiggles.com
“The two biggest influences in my life are magazines and addiction treatment. Those are the two main forces I’ve had looping in my brain, that have shown me how the world works.”— Cat Marnell, washingtonpost.com
“I knew I was going to be annoying. But I was thinking of the narrators I like most in this world, like Cher from ‘Clueless.’ Once I let go of what I thought a book should be, that’s when I found this voice that was grounded in pop music. I love pop music. I love Britney Spears albums.”— Cat Marnell, washingtonpost.com
“I woke up on the morning of my 25th birthday and realized that at some point, when I hadn’t been paying attention, happiness had unpacked its bags and decided to stay. And there wasn’t a boring thing about it.”— Heidi Priebe, thoughtcatalog.com
“The lie we tell people, especially artists, is that because you’re doing something you love, you should be grateful for every GLORIOUS moment. That’s…just…not how life works?”— Ari Eastman, thoughtcatalog.com
“Writers are all so obsessed with mystery. They can’t afford to solve the mystery, because the next day they’d become irrelevant.”— Tony Grisoni, Paolo Sorrentino, Lenny Belardo, Jude Law, imdb.com
“There is a confidence, an assertion of self required in writing that we so often confuse with recklessness, but isn’t necessarily the same thing. I can be ruthless, daring, even ‘crazy’ in my writing and deliberate and thoughtful in the choices I make with it later; to doubt that is insulting, but I…”— Meaghan O'Connell, nymag.com
“I write because there is nothing as joyful as writing, even when the writing is twisted and full of hate, the self-hate that makes writing not only possible but necessary. I hate myself, I hate the people around me, but what I crave is the fulfillment of some ideal.”— Gary Shteyngart, amazon.com