Lynda Barry Quotes

I'm an escapist kind of writer.

You become a great writer by writing.

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 write novels and other things.

No one knows how to write a novel until it's been written.

There are probably writers who are much more visual than I am and some who are less. I like to think of myself as a happy medium.

Writing is really hard, and it's really a skill.

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

The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.

The process of composition, messing around with paragraphs and trying to make really good prose, is hardwired into my personality.

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

I was really into writing short fiction and also photography when I was a kid.

Every writer has to figure out what works best - and often has to select and discard different tools before they find the one that fits.

To some extent, I draw on what I see around me; in other places, I imagine what I write.

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.

I don't think I'd have the stamina, skill or ability to write a novel, but I'd love to write short stories and poetry, because those are my two passions.

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.

Well, everything surprises me about the writing process because illustrating comes much more naturally to me than writing does.

The writing process isn't something I'm in love with. I'm an illustrator who writes.

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.

Literature for me isn't a workaday job, but something which involves desires, dreams and fantasy.

Whenever I write a novel, music just sort of naturally slips in (much like cats do, I suppose).

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.