Michael Connelly Quotes

I began to write when I was seven, and I have been writing off and on ever since. It is still off and on. You can say that when I am on, when I know I have a book which I am going to write, then I write two thousand words a day. That's so many pages longhand.

I write books that way - I put a first line down and say, "Where does this go?"

I work on one book at a time. And yes, I am immersed. Six days a week for four to six hours a day. In between books, I stop writing for as much as two to three months, but during that time, I do research and think, plot and plan the book.

The first book is the book you have to write to get back at your parents; the book you always had in you. Once you get that out of your way, you can start writing books.

Of all the ways of acquiring books, writing them oneself is regarded as the most praiseworthy method.

To write a book is for all the world like humming a song—be but in tune with yourself, madam, 'tis no matter how high or how low you take it.

A book, while it is being written, has an intense life of its own which you share.

Your book grows. The early part of your book is growing still while you are writing the later part of your book.

Like all former thinkers, I'm writing a book.

I finish the book so I can see how it's going to end. I write that first sentence, and if it's the right first sentence, it leads to the right second sentence and three years later you have a 500-page manuscript, but it really is like going on a trip, going on a journey. It's a voyage.

There are two kinds of typical days. There's the typical day when I'm writing a novel, and there's the typical day when I'm not.

The only way to write a book, I’m fond of telling people, is to actually write a book. That’s how you write a book.

Writing a book is the most terrifying thing that I've ever done. It's so much harder than writing for television because it is a completely different skill set.

Following takes why. Transactions take what. It has to be real. It has to be the same for writing a book.

The process of book writing for me is entirely one of trial and error.

When you write a book, you spend day after day scanning and identifying the trees. When you’re done, you have to step back and look at the forest.

A book, at the same time, also has to do with what I call a buzz in the head. It's a certain kind of music that I start hearing. It's the music of the language, but it's also the music of the story. I have to live with that music for a while before I can put any words on the page. I think that's because I have to get my body as much as my mind accustomed to the music of writing that particular book. It really is a mysterious feeling.

Writing a book isn’t an easy process nor is it always enjoyable, but it is one of life’s most satisfying achievements.

Writing a book is hard. It turns out, writing a second book is twice as hard.

The process of writing a book is like the process of preparing a dinner. Serving dishes, choosing ingredients and so on.

As much fun as it is to read a book, writing a book is one level deeper than that.

I needed to find my way to write. I need about six hours of uninterrupted time in order to produce about two hours of writing, and when I accepted that and found the way to do it, then I was able to write.

As for thinking time versus writing time, well, that's up to you. But - and I wish it were otherwise - books don't get written by thinking about them, they get written by writing them. And that's when you make discoveries about what you're writing. That's when you get the happy accidents.

I write every day. I'm always in the process of writing my last book, until the next one.

I write books back to back, and I work very hard on them.