#writing

"The shame of being a man - is there any better reason to write?"

"The writer is either a practicing recluse or a delinquent, guilt-ridden one--or both. Usually both."

"Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never ­being satisfied."

"If a story is in you, it has to come out."

"Write what should not be forgotten."

"if a book isn't self-explanatory, then it isn't worth reading."

"If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write."

"Wrote my way out of the hood...thought my way out of poverty! Don't tell me that knowledge isn't power. Education changes everything."

"The secret is not to write about what you love best, but about what you, alone, love at all."

"Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together."

"I write because I cannot NOT write."

"A new word. Bright with possibilities. A flawless pearl to turn over and over in my hand, then put away for safekeeping."

"Spelling Bees are useless and unnecessary competitions. Before Microsoft Word and Google, Spelling Bees had value, but now they are all superflewus."

"If you want to be a writer-stop talking about it and sit down and write!"

"I don’t ask writers about their work habits. I really don’t care. Joyce Carol Oates says somewhere that when writers ask each other what time they start working and when they finish and how much time they take for lunch, they’re actually trying to find out, "Is he as crazy as I am?"I don’t need that question answered."

"You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live."

"No one wants to read poetry. You have to make it impossible for them to put the poem down--impossible for them to stop reading it, word after word. You have to keep them from closing the book."

"And ever, as the story drainedThe wells of fancy dry,And faintly strove that weary oneTo put the subject by,"The rest next time--""It is next time!"The Happy voice cry.Thus grew the tale of Wonderland"

"The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender."

"Goals are dreams with a deadline."