“Your career isn't over until you stop writing. If your book flops, if they drop your contract, if they don't buy your next book-- it's not over. Pick a pseudonym, switch genres, self-publish, hybridize. It's not over until you are.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“If writing sucks years out of your life, why are you doing it? Writing doesn't suck anything out of my life; it adds depth and meaning and gives me something to hope for, something to gnaw on, something to dream about, a way to connect with people. Writing refills my soul.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“The really important point here is that your debut book/series/year DOES NOT PREDICT YOUR CAREER. It's not any indicator of future success. Publishers know and understand this. Just keep writing the best books you can. Keep innovating without fear. Keep that hope.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“If I could change 1 thing about my debut year as an author, I wish someone in power had looked me in the eye and said, 'You wrote a good book, and you're a good writer, but we are not pushing your book. There is no way it will hit list. Just have fun.' Truth > disappointment.”— Delilah S. Dawson, twitter.com
“I’m always creating stuff. So if it’s a long car ride, if it’s a night off in the hotel, if I’m flying somewhere, I’m always on my computer. I’m always writing words, making beats, creating beds of music. And it kind of never stops. Like, I could just be walking around somewhere, have an idea, and I…”— Mike Shinoda, gq.com
“Oh, I know it hurts now Brian, but look at the bright side, you have some new material for that novel you've been writing. You know, the...the novel you've been working on. You know, the...the one, uh, you been working on for three years. You know, the... the novel.”— Mark Hentemann, Stewie Griffin, Seth MacFarlane, imdb.com
“Why is she doing this? people asked, stealing glances at March. Some had a larger question: Who was Anna March?”— Melissa Chadburn, Carolyn Kellogg, latimes.com
“Sadness has a strange size. Big enough to swell us, saturate our body. Small enough to fit through a 5mm pen tip.”— Quiara Alegría Hudes, twitter.com
“On writing Start the scene off-topic. So that the scene’s essence is a reveal, a surprise. Use distraction as gift wrapping, a treasure box.”— Quiara Alegría Hudes, twitter.com
“Move that pen & don’t pause to question what the fuck you’re doing. Write in your dreams, on the subway, as you walk (1 day you may wake up too beaten down to throw your heart to the wolves anymore). So don’t waste the energized, purposeful times This very second, run don’t walk! Go! Write!”— Quiara Alegría Hudes, twitter.com
“'Writing things was important, wasn't it?' 'Yes, it was. The process of writing was important. Even thought the finished product is completely meaningless.'”— Haruki Murakami, amazon.com
“Writing a novel — you alone in a room with your own thoughts — might be the only way to get a maximal kind of satisfaction from your creative efforts. All the other ways can break your heart.”— Taffy Brodesser-Akner, nytimes.com
“One of the most valuable things I learned as a writer is to be open to make changes to your work. I can tell you that every single editor I have had has made my essays or articles better. They’ve brought things out in me that I didn’t know were there.”— Keah Brown, twitter.com
“Doors have knobs. They can be opened. Writing fiction is one way. Reading, watching, and listening are others.”— Tavi Gevinson, rookiemag.com
“It’s incredibly misogynist to tell me I can only write a certain type of woman. Because that’s saying women must be a certain type of person.”— Gillian Flynn, vanityfair.com
“Hi! Just a reminder that I'm a single black mom of 2 with ADD, & I was in my 30's working in marketing with no professional writing experience when I started blogging, & now I write full time & have a NYT bestselling book. You can be a writer. It's never too late. It will wait for you”— Ijeoma Oluo, twitter.com
“To knot a sentence up properly, it has to be thought out carefully, and revised. New phrases have to be put in; sudden changes of subject must be introduced; verbs must be shifted to unsuspected localities; short words must be excised with ruthless hand; archaisms must be sprinkled like sugar-plums…”— Aleister Crowley, amazon.com
“Works that have a certain imperfection to them have an appeal for that very reason—or at least they appeal to certain types of people . . . You discover something about that work that tugs at your heart—or maybe we should say the work discovers you.”— Haruki Murakami, amazon.com