Arts, Media & Entertainment: Writing Quotes

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"I receive about 10,000 letters a year from readers, and in the first year after a book is published, perhaps 5,000 letters will deal specifically with that piece of work"

Dean Koontz, Author

"In the same period, Polish literature also underwent some significant changes. From social-political literature, which had a great tradition and strong motivation to be that way, Polish literature changed its focus to a psychological rather than a social one"

Andrzej Wajda, Director

"It's this simple law, which every writer knows, of taking two opposites and putting them in a room together. I love anything with Cartman and Butters at the same time, it's great"

Trey Parker, Artist

"I think the international appeal of SF is quite understandable since the kinds of people who like to read it are, by the nature of the beast, interested in other cultures, of which other nations on Earth are the closest available example"

Stanley Schmidt, Writer

"All I wanted to do was write - at the time, poems, and prose, too. I guess my ambition was simply to make money however I could to keep myself going in some modest way, and I didn't need much, I was unmarried at the time, no children"

Paul Auster, Author

"There's been a number of erroneous biographies, articles and so on written about Billy, and we both thought it would be a good idea to produce a true one"

Pamela Stephenson, Actress

"Culture clash is terrific drama"

Ken Follett, Author

"It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not"

Paul Auster, Author

"I never let my subject get in the way of what I want to talk about"

Mark Victor Hansen, Businessman

"In our day the conventional element in literature is elaborately disguised by a law of copyright pretending that every work of art is an invention distinctive enough to be patented"

Northrop Frye, Critic

"There is nothing more distressing or tiresome than a writer standing in front of an audience and reading his work"

William Gaddis, Novelist

"How some of the writers I come across get through their books without dying of boredom is beyond me"

William Gaddis, Novelist

"For a director and a producer to be named on the writing credits is practically unheard of"

Terry Southern, Writer

"Writing, producing, and directing, I must say, is incredibly satisfying and gratifying. I've never been happier"

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Actress

"Today, for a Jew who writes in the German language, it is totally impossible to make a living. In no group do I see as much misery, disappointment, desperation and hopelessness as in Jewish writers who write in German"

Stefan Zweig, Writer

"Writing fiction has developed in me an abiding respect for the unknown in a human lifetime and a sense of where to look for the threads, how to follow, how to connect, find in the thick of the tangle what clear line persists"

Eudora Welty, Author

"I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within"

Eudora Welty, Author

"The thriller is the most popular literary genre of the 20th century"

Ken Follett, Author

"In my books, women often solve the problem. Even if the woman is not the hero, she's a strong character. She does change the plot. She'll often rescue the male character from some situation"

Ken Follett, Author

"A very good editor is almost a collaborator"

Ken Follett, Author

"There's no reason that just because you're a celebrity you can't write"

Gloria Estefan, Musician

"I had to live this long, have the experiences I've had, to create what I do. I knew I wanted to write for years, but I had to be ready so I wouldn't blow it. The move to Maine was the final step"

Terry Goodkind, Writer

"Of course, the way writers think about those things is almost certain to be affected by their own cultural background, and it would be hard to deny that, for whatever reasons, a lot of SF writers come from Anglo or European backgrounds"

Stanley Schmidt, Writer

"What we're always looking for is weird social issues and weird connections to make. Luckily for them, there's no shortage of material"

Trey Parker, Artist

"Ideally, I'd like every issue to include a diverse group of stories that meet the qualifications sketched above, but covering a wide range of specific matter and flavour"

Stanley Schmidt, Writer

"I am writing my second novel for children for Simon and Schuster"

Marlee Matlin, Actress

"Much as I like owning a Rolls-Royce, I could do without it. What I could not do without is a typewriter, a supply of yellow second sheets and the time to put them to good use"

John O'Hara, Writer

"The only character I ever remember actually creating in a flash of inspiration was George Liquor. God planted that in my head in an instant"

John Kricfalusi, Artist

"We have cut the text, but what remains are Shakespeare's words"

Edward Hall, Lawyer

"It allows you to say things that sound very dramatic and get away with it. If you had characters in modern fiction say the same things as they're driving down the street in an Oldsmobile they'd sound ludicrous!"

Terry Goodkind, Writer

"Ever since I was really little, I've had characters that were in my mind"

Terry Goodkind, Writer

"This means I must pay close attention to the writing, but equally so to the scientific background - which sometimes means doing fairly involved calculations"

Stanley Schmidt, Writer

"Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy it"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"My favorite short-story writer is John Cheever"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"Kennedy was a man who liked writers and even I got invited to the White House"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"I don't think that the writer is regarded as a freak by Americans"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

"Fantasy allows you bend the world and the situation to more clearly focus on the moral aspects of what's happening. In fantasy you can distill life down to the essence of your story"

Terry Goodkind, Writer

"Special-interest magazines are dangerous places for writers to start out in because the writing quickly falls into a routine, and people are likely to find themselves artistically exhausted when they want to work on something of their own"

Irwin Shaw, Novelist

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