Writer Quotes

I really wanted to be a writer.

One truth is the swing of the sentence, the beat and poise, but down deeper it's the integrity of the writer as he matches with the language.

It's probably why I'm a short story writer. I tend to remember things in the past in narrative form, in story form, and I grew up around people who told stories all the time.

You want to be a writer, don't know how or when? Find a quiet place, use a humble pen.

I've never been a fearful person. When I was growing up, I wanted to be an actress, a writer, and a musician and I never really processed that those are the three hardest jobs - I just never even processed it.

That process by which you become a writer is a pretty lonely one. We don't have a group apprenticeship like a violinist might training for an orchestra.

Richard Hugo taught me that anyone with a desire to write, an ear for language and a bit of imagination could become a writer. He also, in a way, gave me permission to write about northern Montana.

Raymond Carver is good. I think he'll be appreciated more and more. He's an easy writer to imitate.

Anyone can write one book: even politicians do it. Starting a second book reveals an intention to be a professional writer.

A whole album to one writer - now that would be really interesting.

For a writer it's a dream to sit and watch people as close as possible.

There is no writer's block in a newsroom. There's only unemployment block.

I think of myself as a problem-solver. I want to go in and help the director and the writer to get the best they can out of the text they're working with.

Out of grad school, I worked as a tech writer for a while before going into computer coding for a living.

I'm lucky enough to work with, I think, the greatest writer there's ever been, Shakespeare. Whose collected works would always be under my pillow if I was only ever allowed one book to keep, and who never bores me.

The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.

Now, being a science fiction writer, when I see a natural principle, I wonder if it could fail.

Anyone who claims to be good at lying is obviously bad at lying. Thus - as a writer myself - I cannot comment on whether or not writers are exceptionally good liars, because whatever I said would actually mean its complete opposite.

Depending on what I'm working on, I come to the writing desk with entirely different mindsets. When I change form one to the other, it's as if another writer is on the scene.

I've started a company, called Tall Girl Productions, and we've got our first project that is purely producing, not writing, with a writer named Evan Daugherty. It's for NBC, it's called 'Afterthought,' and it's science fiction-ish. That's fun.

Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer.

A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.

As a writer, you get to play, you get alter time, you get to come up with the smart lines and the clever comebacks you wish you'd thought of.

Dickens is a very underrated writer at the moment. Everyone in his time admired him but I think right now he's not spoken of enough.

Brooklyn is kind of my writer's retreat.

I also believe that if you're really a writer, you'll write, and that nobody could stop you.

My family is involved and my wife Brenda is a great, great writer. She helps me with the writing of everything and also sings with me. I owe a lot to Brenda.

Intense study of the Bible will keep any writer from being vulgar, in point of style.

I think it is probably more important to attend specialized conventions for a journeyman writer than any other, but it's useful at all stages of a career, if for nothing else, to find out how the industry is working at any given time.

The catchword I use with my classes is: The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader.