Harrison Birtwistle Quotes

I just write what I want to write.

I write what I'm interested in.

I write what I want to write.

I actually started writing publishable stuff the day I decided I'd actually like to write something I'd like to read, and stopped trying to think what does everyone actually want.

That's what I love about writing is you don't need anyone's permission to do it. You can just get up in the morning, grab a pad and pen and start writing.

As a writer, you have to first of all write what you want to. Listen to advice, by all means, but don't get bogged down in it.

There's actually nothing interesting about me except what I write.

I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write.

I don't know where I would place myself in the literary landscape. I really just write the book that I would want to read. And I put on the blinders, and I really - it is, for me, that simple.

I started writing to please myself, a story I would like to read, and that is still true.

Early on my career, I figured out that I just have to write the book I have to write at that moment. Whatever else is going on in the culture is just not that important. If you could get the culture to write your book, that would be great. But the culture can't write your book.

I don't want people to just hand me music and be like, 'Here, you sound good on this. Sing it.' I want to be able to say, 'This is me.'

You can't tell someone how to write their own book.

No matter how long my day job hours were, I always made time to write. I wrote fiction, short stories, and poetry. I never shared it with anybody.

The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is to write the book that you would want to read, and hope other people agree.

I'm not trying to appeal to anybody. I just try to do my thing and make the best music I can make.

I love writing books - I really do. If I could just quit everything and work on a book every day, I would love that most.

Write a book you'd like to read. If you wouldn't read it, why would anybody else? Don't write for a perceived audience or market. It may well have vanished by the time your book's ready.

I'm not sure if I always wanted to be a writer, but I was always writing.

I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way.

After a while, you start to realize that you should write a book you would want to read. I try to write a book I would enjoy.

When my writing really started to take off was when I made a decision that I would write only what I wanted to write, and if 10 people wanted to hear it, that's fine.

I wanted to write.

Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it!

I love to write. I used to be a math teacher. And I like the idea that other people could write about the same subjects, but no one would write it just the way I do. It's very individual: a child could write the same story as somebody else, but it wouldn't come out the same.