Not write what you know, but know what you write. If you write about a world before, after, or other than this one, enter that world completely. Search it to find your deepest longings and most terrible fears. Let imagination carry you as far as it may, as long as you recount the voyage with excitement and wonder. But this is the most important rule: write the book you most long to read.
When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me the list of kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius the Elder, Servius… - Steven Saylor
When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me the list of kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius the Elder, Servius…
- Steven Saylor
There is a fine sense of freedom that comes from wandering about a familiar city with no particular destination in mind, with no one to meet, no duti… - Steven Saylor
There is a fine sense of freedom that comes from wandering about a familiar city with no particular destination in mind, with no one to meet, no duti…
Im like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture. - Steven Saylor
Im like the painter with his nose to the canvas, fussing over details. Gazing from a distance, the reader sees the big picture.
We all have a lot of people inside us, yet we get to live only one life. Fiction lets us slip into someone else’s skin, so to speak. That’s why we re… - Steven Saylor
We all have a lot of people inside us, yet we get to live only one life. Fiction lets us slip into someone else’s skin, so to speak. That’s why we re…
Some men are one thing on the surface and another underneath. The true poet shows not just the exterior of his subject, but all the contradictions wi… - Steven Saylor
Some men are one thing on the surface and another underneath. The true poet shows not just the exterior of his subject, but all the contradictions wi…
Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil. - Steven Saylor
Even the crudest, most derivative novel is an expression of the author's hopes and fears and ideas about good and evil.
Adrienne Mayor's inquiry into the myth--and surprising reality--of Amazon women begins with the fierce Greek huntress Atalanta, but takes us deep int… - Steven Saylor
Adrienne Mayor's inquiry into the myth--and surprising reality--of Amazon women begins with the fierce Greek huntress Atalanta, but takes us deep int…
I can't say I had an ideal father, and I'm not a father myself. - Steven Saylor
I can't say I had an ideal father, and I'm not a father myself.
All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say? - Steven Saylor
All writing is an act of self-exploration. Even a grocery list says something about you; how much more does a novel say?
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