Arts, Media & Entertainment: Writing Quotes

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"I do want to write about Jane Whitefield again, but only when I have a good enough idea - something I've figured out about her that's news and that's worth a reader's time"

Thomas Perry, Musician

"Dostoevski does not tell you what to think about his legend, but he requires that you think about it. The novelist was a deeply religious man and he always thought many readers missed that point about him"

Suzanne Fields, Writer

"Providing a writer isn't put off by conventions - and some are - attending them can be a nice break from the necessary isolation of writing"

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Writer

"The first book I ever wrote was in fourth grade and it was called 'Billy's Booger.' It was an autobiographical piece about a kid who was really bad at math"

William Joyce, Author

"There have been times when I reread - or at least leafed through - something because I'd sent a copy to a friend, and what usually happened was that I noticed dozens and dozens of clumsy phrases I wished I could rewrite"

Peter Straub, Writer

"I wonder what it is that the people who criticize me for telling this story truly object to: is it that I have dared to tell the story? Or that the story turns out not to be the one they wanted to hear?"

Joyce Maynard, Writer

"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a form of service journalism. To be successful, I think it has to be a combination of a good story, it has to be funny, and it also needs to be packed with useful information"

Ted Allen, Entertainer

"Would you care to publish this? Sincerely, Robert B. Parker"

Robert B. Parker, Writer

"This is not a screenplay. I don't do twenty drafts. I'm not going to show this to you until it's published or accepted for publication. You can make whatever suggestions you want, but I probably will ignore them entirely"

Robert B. Parker, Writer

"We have gotten away from this double aspect of either putting the character back into historical events or of making a historical event of his very life"

Raymond Queneau, Poet

"The Iliad is the private lives of people thrown into disorder by history"

Raymond Queneau, Poet

"It seems to me that an author who has determined very new domains in literature is Gertrude Stein"

Raymond Queneau, Poet

"The word courage - God, I love that word. Words are so important to me"

Peter Fonda, Actor

"All the books I have written have been one book, from the beginning"

Marguerite Young, Author

"I must apologise, because I know all writers have memories of being on the outer, because it's the children on the side of the playground who become the dangerous writers"

Thomas Keneally, Novelist

"That's very nice if they want to publish you, but don't pay too much attention to it. It will toss you away. Just continue to write"

Natalie Goldberg, Author

"People essentially like local news better than network news"

Roone Arledge, Journalist

"The story line was done in a way that's organic and was doled out very slowly in little bites. We think that's authentic for this character, that her feelings are very deeply buried or she never felt them"

Laura Innes, Actress

"You find the most important thing that really grabs you, and put it right up top. Don't bury the lead. Put it at the top. Best thing to do. Never go wrong that way. It's an immutable law of journalism. It just always works"

Kurt Loder, Journalist

"Television's very dependent on images. That's not what news is"

Kurt Loder, Journalist

"I took two years away from making films to write a novel"

Neil Jordan, Director

"The more melancholy side of my literary personality is much in tune with BS Johnson's"

Jonathan Coe, Novelist

"To my mind, the best SF addresses itself to problems of the here and now, or even to problems which have never been solved and never will be solved - I'm thinking of Philip K. Dick's work here, dealing with questions of reality, for example"

John Sladek, Author

"SF has at least the advantage of not depending on preconceptions"

John Sladek, Author

"Good journalism, I think, represents life and if you try to organize something too neatly it usually blows up in your face and doesn't really happen the way you want it to"

John Pomfret

"There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to revise yourself constantly"

John Irving, Novelist

"The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is something I never tire of"

John Irving, Novelist

"The writers I respect the most had an undying commitment to a vision"

Jewel Kilcher, Musician

"And out of a desire essentially to imitate what I was reading, I began to write, like a clever monkey"

Russell Banks, Author

"Oftentimes what happens is that the writer understands one character, but they don't understand the other one, and the other one ends up not being written as well"

Jennifer Beals, Actress

"I thought they would never select an Eastern writer for the Nobel. I was surprised"

Naguib Mahfouz, Novelist

"I don't know if there is any one secret to successful writing, but one important step is to move beyond imitation and discover what you can write that no one else can - that is, find out who you are and write that in an appropriate narrative and style"

James Gunn, Writer

"I've never told you the story of Alice in Wonderland, have I?"

Edgar Bergen, Actor

"When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an actor in an experimental play that I'd already written. And I didn't want to be an actor"

David Antin, Poet

"I'm aware of my audience in a way, and I do try to engage with them while I'm trying to go about my business of thinking. I believe they help me by providing a focus"

David Antin, Poet

"I'm too shy for personal appearances, and I've found out that anytime I talk about my writing, I can't do any writing for many weeks afterward"

Anne Tyler, Novelist

"I'll write maybe one long paragraph describing the events, then a page or two breaking the events into chapters, and then reams of pages delving into my characters. After that, I'm ready to begin"

Anne Tyler, Novelist

"I spend about a year between novels"

Anne Tyler, Novelist

"I never think about the actual process of writing. I suppose I have a superstition about examining it too closely"

Anne Tyler, Novelist

"For me, writing something down was the only road out"

Anne Tyler, Novelist

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