George MacDonald Fraser Quotes

Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.

I want all of my films to belong to me.

I know most publishers probably don't let their authors write on Wattpad all the time, but mine are pretty open about it.

Writing a book is not a crime.

'Would I mind if someone wrote a sequel to one of my books?' I asked myself, and I decided that I wouldn't, providing that the writer was respectful, had read my book first, and wasn't drunk when doing it.

The fun thing about song writing is that it's just creative. It can be whatever you want it to be. For me, I'm really protective of that. I'm not going to write something because I feel like it fits here or it fits there - I just want to write music that feels good to me, you know?

I believe in creative control. No matter what anyone makes, they should have control over it.

As a writer, you have to first of all write what you want to. Listen to advice, by all means, but don't get bogged down in it.

Write how you want, the critic shall show the world you could have written better.

To make personal movies that you are the author of, is quite a difficult thing. It takes a lot of stamina.

I never really like it when other writers talk about coming in behind people and rewriting.

I think as an artist or a writer it's OK to want to control your own work.

I think I got spoiled and that writing a short story and getting it published, or writing a novel and getting it published, you pretty much get to do the first, second and third draft yourself without a whole lot of interference.

I never want to be in a position where I have to defend my material. It's too subjective. It's for other people to defend or not defend.

I write what I write.

I want to get into producing and writing more for myself - setting up my own films and seeing what kind of personal touch I can put on movies, as opposed to just being in them.

I always say when you write a book, you're a 'one-man band.' Whereas, when you finish a screenplay, it's just a sketch.

I know that it's axiomatic in the film industry that you're not supposed to let the novelist develop their own story. Well, first of all, that's kind of up to the novelist - because they don't have to sell it. But also, I don't believe it. It's about trust.

All my editors since Malcolm Cowley have had instructions to leave my prose exactly as I wrote it. In the days of Malcolm Cowley, with 'On the Road' and 'The Dharma Bums', I had no power to stand by my style for better or for worse.

I write all of my material. It's all me.

As much as I really like the screenwriting thing, the novel is where the author has so much control.

I'd like to be able to be like a director, like Richard Brooks, say. And be able to say, 'I did my best, and this is it, and there's nobody to blame but me.'

If I am writing down something and it is my idea, my imagination, it won't be fact.

I'm not afraid of a big studio film; I trust my instincts. But for me, it's not really about box office. It's about looking back on your work and not having to apologize for it.

'Drawn & Quarterly' has always given me complete editorial control over my books and comics, so any decision about what to include or exclude from the book was my own.