I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter..

I'm very anxious not to fall into archaism or 'literary' diction. I want my vocabulary to have a very large range, but the words must be alive..

When we think we have something to say we are usually wrong. We are fooling ourselves. Trip into discovery. Don't write what you know, discover somet….

Given the devaluation of literature and of the study of foreign languages per se in the United States, as well as the preponderance of theory over te….

To me a good book is like a quiet friend—a friend who’s happy to share thoughts and feelings with you, who’s always there when you need them. Best of….

I think that's what turns young men and women into writers - the happiness you discover living in books..

My characters, I find them as I'm writing. It's quite incredible how fully realized they are in my mind, how many details I know about each of them..

Learning patience takes a lot of patience!.

Let authors write for glory and reward. The truth is well paid when she is sung and heard..

I never write with any kind of message, and I don't think that this book, 'Goodbye, Stranger' has a message in the capital M form of the word but I d….

Writing can give full meaning to characters and avoid pure stereotype..

Writing the short story is essentially an act of grace. It's not a matter of will so much as trust. I try to let the story do some of the work for me….

When I'm sitting at my computer writing, I really have this fiendish smile on my face. I am not thinking about the past or the future or how it's goi….

How did I change my life? I wanted things. I wanted women and I wanted to write books..

One great aim of revision is to cut out. In the exuberance of composition it is natural to throw in - as one does in speaking - a number of small wor….

Style is important, but content comes first..

I can only think that the book is read because it deals with the difficulties of schooling, which do not change. Please note: the difficulties, not t….

I didn't realize what I was even doing when I started to record music. I was just doing it for fun. I picked up whatever recording gear I could get m….

The Tale of Despereaux came at the request of Luke, my friend's then-eight-year-old son, who asked, "Write for me the story of an unlikely hero with ….

It's amazing how much time and money can be saved in the world of dating by close attention to detail. A white sock here, a pair of red braces there,….

A writer is the one who loves to write . . . on and about anything . . . And this clears that I am a writer!!.