#writing

"Writing's a lot like cooking. Sometimes the cake won't rise, no matter what you do, and every now and again the cake tastes better than you ever could have dreamed it would."

"If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. And here I make a rule—a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last."

"A long list of propositions does not necessarily make a coherent argument"

"How can you write if you can't cry?"

"There’s nothing more important than literary merit, and that’s why I not only created an award—the Julius Caesar Author of the Year Award—but I nominated myself as the first recipient. You can’t always wait for success to come to you. Sometimes you just have to create it out of nothingness. Just ask the Federal Reserve."

"The recipe for great art has always been misery and a good bowel movement."

"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out."

"My books are water; those of the great geniuses is wine. Everybody drinks water."

"First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice."

"There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don't want to, don't much like what you're writing, and aren't writing particularly well."

"Once the writer in every individual comes to life (and that time is not far off), we are in for an age of universal deafness and lack of understanding."

"A book comes and says, 'Write me."

"The public wants work which flatters its illusions."

"And there was that poor sucker Flaubert rolling around on his floor for three days looking for the right word."

"I want to write about people who dream and wait for the night to end, who long for the light so they can hold the ones they love."

"…when writing, always hook the reader with your first sentence…in love, never settle…value yourself first and this will help you to value others…life is short, so enjoy it to the fullest…everyone in the world is different, and that’s ok…"

"I am telling you what I know—words have music and if you are a musician you will write to hear them."

"My goal is to write every day. I say it is my ideal. I am careful not to pass judgment or create anxiety if I do not do it. No one lives up to his ideal."

"I write for the same reason I breathe - because if I didn't, I would die."

"We no longer know each other. Hell, I barely know myself these days. I brush my teeth and look in the mirror and think, “Who is this guy taking care of my oral hygiene?"