#writing

"A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him."

"Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way."

"It's not my brain that's writing the book, it's these hands of mine."

"The best fame is a writer's fame. It's enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough to get you interrupted when you eat."

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it."

"You're miserable, edgy and tired. You're in the perfect mood for journalism."

"Rich will be my life if I can keep my memories full and brimming, and record them on clear-eyed mornings while I set joyously to work setting pen to holy craft."

"Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar."

"My advice to aspiring writers is to read more, write more, and network more. More, more, and more. Then, after you've done all that, do it some more."

"Panicky despair is an underrated element of writing."

"Using my nipples as bait, I went fishing for compliments. I got a few bites, but nothing to write about in Field & Stream."

"some moments are nice, some arenicer, some are even worthwritingabout."

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it"

"Ink, a Drug."

"When a poet digs himself into a hole, he doesn't climb out. He digs deeper, enjoys the scenery, and comes out the other side enlightened."

"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

"There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it."

"The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter."

"I need solitude for my writing; not 'like a hermit' - that wouldn't be enough - but like a dead man."

"One wants to tell a story, like Scheherezade, in order not to die. It's one of the oldest urges in mankind. It's a way of stalling death."