Whit Stillman Quotes

One of the first serious attempts I made to write a novel was when I was in Grade 6 and I had read 'Matilda.' I wrote my own version and my teacher had it bound and permitted me to read it to the class - cementing my love of reading, writing and Roald Dahl!

Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted.

Cooper wrote a novel which is absolutely indistinguishable from Austen, completely from a female point of view, completely English, no sense that he was an American.

Ever since I was young, I've read Austen and the Brontes. My friends laugh, but those books are always so tragic and wonderful - those stories, they're just incredible.

I really began to love to read while in high school, and my favorite authors were my heroes: J.D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut.

I've always loved books by the Bronte sisters. I love Jane Austen, too. I'm more influenced by people like her than by pop culture.

Only occasionally do I read new fiction. Most of my reading is heavily dictated by what I'm writing at the time.

Usually I decide on what it is I'm writing next by the books I'm reading.

I can always tell when I'm about to start writing. I go through cycles in reading. When I'm beginning to start to write something, I start reading what I think of as good literature. I read things with wonderful language.

Before 'Austenland,' I got do a lead role in 'Northanger Abbey', which is Jane Austen. Growing up in England, you can't really ignore Jane Austen. It's always been there.

I tend to boycott all teenage reading while I'm trying to write my own stuff.

My novels aren't really generated by a single conceptual spark; it's more a process of many different elements that come together unexpectedly over a long period of time.

I've always been drawn to writing for young readers. The books that I read growing up remain in my mind very strongly.

I wish one time in my life I could do what other writers do... get me a villa in Spain and go there to write a book.

I know some writers that have a million novel ideas, but I don't.

When I had a full-time job, I would write dialogue and sketch characters on my commute and during meetings. Now, I forsake showers and regular meals and stay at my desk for hours, taking breaks to drink tea and eat something sweet, usually cake.

Some writers you return to again and again, and for me, Nancy Mitford is one of them.

There's nothing like meeting a girl at a signing and her telling me that she loves reading now, and she's even writing her own stories.

When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel.

Read like a butterfly, write like a bee.

The modern writer who has influenced me most is W. Somerset Maugham .

Really important books to me are the classics. I try very hard to read them well - you know, especially once I got serious about writing.

Shakespeare I love, but for an English graduate, I'm incredibly badly read.

I wrote a novel because I had a yen to do it. I believe this is sufficient reason to set out to tell a story.

Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and feel the wind blowing.