426 Quotes About Writing-craft

In fact, one could argue that the skill of the fiction writer boils down to the ability to exploit intensity.

I never thought, when I used to read books, what work it was to write them.... It's work enough to read them sometimes.... As to the writing, it has its own charms.

What do you want? What are you willing to give up to get it? Writing requires you make sacrifices. Be prepared to work hard to be a writer.

Writing is supposed to be difficult, agonizing, a dreadful exercise, a terrible occupation.

Nobody reads a book to get to the middle.

It's the writing that teaches you.

I always tell my writing students that every good piece of writing begins with both a mystery and a love story. And that every single sentence must be a poem. And that economy is the key to all good writing. And that every character has to have a secret.

I never waited for my Irish Cream coffee to be the right temperature, with a storm happening outside and my fireplace crackling ... I wrote every day, at home, in the office, whether I felt like it or not, I just did it.

Murphy is a writer's best friend, but you have to keep an eye on him, or he'll steal the silver.