Eric Van Lustbader Quotes

What works for one writer may not work for another. There are as many methods as there are writers. Were you to live to a grand old age, you would still never have enough time to try them all.

I still write the same way and have the same perspective.

Most important of all, there is no right or wrong way to write - there's only what works for you. I was taught to write every day, but I know a writer (a bestseller at that!) who only writes on weekends.

I don't usually think of my writing as a 'challenge' because I enjoy the process so much. I suppose that's what's helped me to avoid 'writer's block' all these years.

Every kind of book I've written has been written in a different way. There has not been any set time for writing, any set way, I haven't re-invented the process every time but I almost have.

John McGovern taught me that it's OK to write repeatedly about the same things.

Every writer has to find their own way into writing.

Don't force yourself to write. Some people can write a novel in a few months, whereas for others it can take over a year. I'm lucky to be one of the former - but, even so, if I'm not in the mood to write, I won't. I'll go off, do something else and come back to it when I'm ready.

You can't sit down and decide what you want to write about.

I don't care about writing really.

I am always trying to write.

I'm of the ilk of writers that feels you have to be open to the inspiration.

All writers have their own pet commandments.

Don't let anyone tell you there's only one way to write.

So one can say that I write all the time, that goes for the lyrics as well.

I do not go down and sit in front of the computer and make myself write; that's not my style.

But it's for every writer to decide his own pace, and the pace varies with the writer and the work.

The only rule I have found to have any validity in writing is not to bore yourself.

The great writers just kept bringing them out. They didn't care if they repeated themselves.

There is no motivation higher than being a good writer.

I don't really like questions about the writing process, because the truth is I don't know how I write.

I don't consciously think of any certain direction when I'm writing. I only try not to be repetitive or redundant.

A lot of young writers ask me about my process. They know what they want to write - but they need to know how. What's the right way? How do the professionals do it? What's the secret?

It puzzles me when writers say they can't read fiction when they're writing fiction because they don't want to be influenced. I'm totally open to useful influence. I'm praying for it.

Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult.