Octavia E. Butler Quotes

I'm finding writing very fascinating.

If I did anything 'next', I would do writing.

Somebody said writing is easy, you just sit down at your typewriter and open a vein. It depends on the book. Some, I have to do quite a lot of research, which I like. Others are much closer to me.

I think writing is such a great talent, and if I was better, I would love to be a writer.

There's a mystery to writing, and you don't really know where most of it comes from.

Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

Jigsaw Lady is the working title of a science fiction novel I've had in my head for darn near 15 years. I think I'll start work on it next year (in all my spare time) but I'd like to get it finished some day.

When I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough.

You have to be practical. So every time I say, if you want to write a novel you have to be practical, people get bored. They are disappointed. They are expecting a more dynamic, creative, artistic thing to say. What I want to say is: you have to be practical.

I never know how to give advice to a writer because there's so much you could say, and it's hard to translate your own experience. But of course, I always try. The main thing that I usually end up saying is to read a lot. To read a great deal and to learn from that.

I'm an author who likes assignments, who needs suggestions, ideas I would never have thought of otherwise - then something happens inside my alien head. Other people have to decide whether or not I'm a good writer, but I do have the ability to write in different styles.

Writing is writing. It's an abiding, wonderful talent, craft, gift that stays with you your whole life. And you can go in different forms, and you can try them. Look at me: I'm writing novels because I found something I love because I tried it.

I've always thought that writing isn't really that hard. It's having a good idea that's hard.

I've been writing poems and stories since I was about 13.

The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire.

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.

When I'm writing, I don't really have much other guide than, 'As a reader, how would I respond to this?'

I am well-nigh resolv'd to write no more tales but merely to dream when I have a mind to, not stopping to do anything so vulgar as to set down the dream for a boarish Publick.

I fundamentally believe that no one can teach you how to write - finding out how to write a story is part of the process of creating a story - but you can really learn through exposure to different writing, to different art forms, to different modes of storytelling, and with mentors who are able to get you to step outside your comfort zone.

I can't emphasize enough how much of a writer I am.

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.

Whether it's 'Fish' or 'Annabel Scheme' or 'The Truth About the East Wind,' I often find myself crafting custom containers to hold the kind of content I want to create.

When you compose, it's like writing. You're like a writer. You just think all the time.

I've been writing since I was maybe seven.

I just loved the idea of writing for different personalities all the time.