Khaled Hosseini Quotes

Life can't defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death.

I'm always writing. I'm an obsessive. It's not because I'm a disciplined person. It's because I'm crazy about it.

Hell man, I know very well you didn't come to me only to want to become a writer, and after all what do I really know about it except that you've got to stick to it with the energy of a benny addict.

You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.

There is no trick to it. If you like to write and want to write, you write, no matter where you are or what else you are doing or whether anyone pays any heed.

I tell aspiring writers that you have to find what you must write. When you find it, you will know, because the subject matter won’t let you go. It’s not enough to write simply because you think it would be neat to be published. You have to be compelled to write. If you’re not, nothing else that you do matters.

The peculiar need to write is increased, it seems, rather than allayed with practice.

To me the question is always this: if a ray of light came out of the sky and said, "Your next book will never be published - would you still write it?" If the answer is yes, the book is worth writing.

You have to be compelled to write. If you’re not, nothing else that you do matters.

I started writing seriously when I was about 12. I am always in the mood.

Writing needs to be practiced; there is a limit to how much can be gleaned from a teacher or a manual. The true essence of writing is out there, in the world, and inside, within yourself. To write, you have to give.

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it

What writing practice, like Zen practice does is bring you back to the natural state of mind...The mind is raw, full of energy, alive and hungry. It does not think in the way we were brought up to think-well-mann ered, congenial.

It's been hard for me to not write, and that's the only process I can speak to I guess, it's so compulsive and I need to do it all the time that sometimes I make myself not do it so I can actually tend to my life.

There is absolutely no point in sitting down to write a book unless you feel that you must write that book, or else go mad, or die.

Don't write for money. Write because you love to do something. If you write for money, you won't write anything worth reading.

Pivotal to a happy writing life is a practice of daily personal writing.

Writers aren't born, they're made - from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine.

Usually when I finish the draft of a book, I'm sure I'll never write another one. I'm just that tired and sick of myself. But then another idea starts percolating. It usually begins with the narrator's name, then some idea that intrigues me about her life or situation. I try to ignore it as long as I can, because I know when I start writing, I'll be right back into it, every single day. But eventually, I just have to. It's a compulsion!

It is impossible to discourage the real writers - they don't give a damn what you say, they're going to write.

But once an idea for a novel seizes a writer...well, it’s like an inner fire that at first warms you and makes you feel good but then begins to eat you alive, burn you up from within. You can’t just walk away from the fire; it keeps burning. The only way to put it out is to write the book.

So this is always the key: you have to write the book you love, the book that's alive in your heart. That's the one you have to write.

Learning to write is not a linear process. There is no logical A-to-B-to-C way to become a good writer. One neat truth about writing cannot answer it all. There are many truths. To do writing practice means to deal ultimately with your whole life.

The Writer's Oath I promise solemnly: 1. to write as often and as much as I can, 2. to respect my writing self, and 3. to nurture the writing of others. I accept these responsibilities and shall honor them always.

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.