Dennis Lehane Quotes

I had no ambition to be a writer because the books I read were too good, my standards were too high.

Like my hero Virginia Woolf, I do lack confidence. I always find that the novel I'm finishing, even if it's turned out fairly well, is not the novel I had in my mind. I think a lot of writers must negotiate this, and if they don't admit it, they're not being honest.

My stories are never quite good enough.

I just don't believe the hype. I just don't take myself too seriously. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

If there is a special Hell for writers it would be in the forced contemplation of their own works.

I am not overconfident.

The thing I always tell my audiences all the time is that I'm just two steps ahead of you on a good day. And I might be two steps behind you on a bad day.

If I were to have a dream job, it would probably be a poet. Then again, I don't think I'm a very good poet!

Marry someone who flatters you. Because I've written 80 books since 'War Horse' but when my wife reads one, all she says is, 'It's quite good, but it's not as good as 'War Horse,' is it?'

I once read Updike after writing a first draft, and I wanted to put my own book on the fire. I've since learned to read utter crap while I'm writing: pulp is the thing.

I had written a book. For various reasons, the publishing industry had decided that my book was going to be 'important.' The novel had taken me 12-and-a-half years to write, and after being with the book for so long, I had no real perspective on the merits or demerits of what I had written. I hoped it was good, but feared that it wasn't.

Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer.

There's pressure to come up with something genius every time. I feel like I keep letting myself down with my Twitter posts. I have to start keeping a journal of rough drafts of prophetic ideas about the world.

I don't think I'm a particularly good writer, and I'm not terribly insightful.

I don't see myself as a visionary at all.

I've done my best to work from a place of humility - always looking over your shoulder saying, 'Does this suck?' and I think that's a good way to work. The other way to work is where you start to think, 'I'm on fire, I'm amazing!' and I don't think that's the way to work.

It's not possible to be perfect - you can always do something better. I'm never proud of what I've done. Sometimes, I'm not ashamed.

Someday I would like to be the kind of writer who barrels through a draft, but I can't even seem to barrel through an interview like this, so I imagine I have a long way to go.

Only bad writers think they're good.

First drafts are never any good - at least, mine aren't.

Am I impressed by myself? Nah, not really.

I'd never be overly confident about anything.

I'd never put much thought into writing an autobiography before, because while I have this public persona of being extremely confident, I also am extremely filled with self-doubt, worry and insecurity. This book came about because I was trying to sell another book, unsuccessfully, about health and wellness.

Now, I'm not the kind of guy who likes to look in the mirror and say, 'Oh, you're the best.'

I've never, ever done a piece of work - and can't imagine doing a piece of work - when I've thought, 'I was pretty perfect in that.'