Olga Tokarczuk Quotes

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

Broadly speaking, there are two approaches to crime: the realistically detailed police procedural, usually grim and downbeat, and the more left-field, joyous theatre of ideas in which past masters once specialised. Knowing that I would never be able to handle the former, I set about reviving the latter.

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

I write about five thousand words a day, when working on a book, about three thousand a day if I'm writing a short story. I take long periods off between projects, when I read a lot, garden, and think about the next book or stories.

I would love to write a mystery - a romantic, funny mystery.

You write, hoping to write a good book; that's it.

I really absolutely loved writing my first book.

Writing books that people want to read is helpful - my most successful book is my only police procedural, a very popular subgenre of the very popular crime fiction genre.

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 thought I might write mysteries for the rest of my life.

I think I've written 40 books, and none of them have been heavy on action. I'm an introspective person.

I can write a book in probably three months.

You write a lot of books; you hope you get better.

I'm writing all the time. I tend to work on at least two books simultaneously. I'll spend time with one, and then I'll spend time with the other. Finishing takes whatever time it takes.

I don't like to talk about work in progress, but the novel I'm working on now is definitely not horror.

I had a publishing history of murder mysteries.

The story grew, got way bigger than the contest rules called for, and next thing I knew I had a book.

Listen, I wrote 10 unsuccessful books before I broke through, so I'm looking all the time to keep my books fascinating. I want to write what people want to read, not push any message.

I was very fortunate that my first novel captivated the imaginations of so many readers who asked for a sequel. After that, one book led to another as I discovered other facets to my characters I wanted to investigate further.

I do not mean for one second to suggest that 'White Doves at Morning' was written with a movie deal in mind. Certainly not.

I wrote ghost stories because I'd always enjoyed reading them, and they seemed to be fizzling out... I don't take them terribly seriously. It's like a cake, with ingredients.

We don't have to think up a title till we get the doggone book written.

I think I settled on the title before I ever wrote the book.

My books start almost before I realise it. Once in a while, some accident causes an idea to rise to the surface and say: 'now.'

I love thrillers, and I always have.