#on-writing

"I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read."

"A novel rough draft is like bread dough; you need to beat the crap out of it for it to rise."

"Never put off writing until you are better at it."

"A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it."

"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession."

"All the stories I would like to write persecute me. When I am in my chamber, it seems as if they are all around me, like little devils, and while one tugs at my ear, another tweaks my nose, and each says to me, 'Sir, write me, I am beautiful."

"Write to your fear."

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."

"A good book isn't written, it's rewritten."

"O for a Muse of fire, that would ascendThe brightest heaven of invention!"