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If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.

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The writer must have a good imagination to begin with, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in a disciplined way, ...more

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Resolution demands a sacrifice.

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You stole my story and something's got to be done about it.

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It was never for you, Annie, or all the other people out there who sign their letters “Your number-one fan.” The minute you start to write all those p...more

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You need to take out the stuff that’s just sitting there and doing nothing. No slackers allowed! All meat, no filler!

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Fiction is the truth inside the lie.

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Try any goddam thing you like, no matter how boringly normal or outrageous. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, toss it. Toss it even if you love it.

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‎If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot…reading is the creative center of a writer’s life…you...more

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Language does not always have to wear a tie and lace-up shoes. The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and ...more

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The writer must have a good imagination to begin with, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in a disciplined way, ...more

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When you write, you want to get rid of the world, do you not? Of course you do. When you're writing, you're creating your own worlds.

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As it happened, all three of us turned out to be real writers--a coincidence almost too large to be termed mere coincidence in a society where literal...more

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Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when if feels like all you're managing is to shovel shit...more

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It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little - or not at all in some cases - should presume to write and expect people to like what th...more