Donna Tartt Quotes

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.

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.

No two books come out the same way. Some I write by the seat of my pants; others are planned in minute detail.

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.

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

I don't read books regularly, because I'm always writing them. I've written 30 books, thousands of pages.

Usually it takes me about nine to 12 months to write a book.

Books are acts of composition: you compose them. You make music: the music is called fiction.

Books arrive in my head all at once, and then it becomes an 18-month process of getting it all down on paper.

Writing a book is not easy.

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.

A really good day for me is to write my book for about four hours, go to the writing room for about four hours and then maybe come back to the book to finish the day for a few more hours of it.

I've never been able to write a book without one very strong character in my rucksack.

Books are great for if you want to work on the craft of writing for yourself, or, you know, to write novels or indie films, stuff like that.

The older I get and the more fiction I write, the more I outline, the more I think about plot before I dive in and plunge too far.

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.

I'm writing books. They're still a mix of fact and fiction and will continue to be. I think it's an interesting place to work.

You may be able to write a novel, you may not. You will never know until you have worked very hard indeed and written at least part of it. You will never really know until you have written the whole of it and submitted it for publication.

I try to create new characters in each book I write. That's what makes writing fun and interesting for me.

A book comes and says, 'Write me.

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.

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

Though The Kite Runner was my first completed novel, I had been writing on and off for most of my life, primarily short stories, and primarily for myself.

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