Joe Meno Quotes

I think a man turns into a writer by editing his own texts.

Writing is not an unknown territory for me.

What one's goal should be is just to become a better writer and to tell different kinds of stories.

I think the only way you can become a writer is through honing your voice, creating your own voice.

The way I outline has changed quite a bit from when I first started writing.

I want to become a very good writer.

The fact is that at different stages of your life, and under the influence of different inspirations, you write different things. The point is not necessarily to find your voice, which grinds out the same sort of thing again and again, but to find a vehicle for people who are far more important than the author: the characters.

I like writing my own material - I'm pretty good at it.

'Sag Harbor' was a very different book for me. It changed the way I thought about books that I wanted to do.

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

My first, 'Room on the Roof,' was the longest book I've written.

During my last year of college I wrote the same ten pages over and over again. Those ten pages became the first few pages of my first novel. I can still recite the opening paragraph from memory - only now I cringe when I do it because they are - surprise! - a classic example of overwriting, in addition to being a more than a little pretentious.

I love great writing.

In the most self-protective of ways, I don't think about the reader when I'm writing - I just think about the story.

In terms of moments that pushed me toward becoming a writer... My parents, my wife, and my English teacher in the 8th grade were all hugely supportive at moments during my development as a writer that were critical, where I might have quit when things got too hard.

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

I knew very early on I wanted to be a television writer. My teachers told me I was a strong writer and had a voice. I really leaned in to that.

I think that successful writers somehow capture truths that resonate with readers.

Every writer has written a spec. It's the first thing you write, and it basically stands as a means of, 'Here's an example of how I tell stories.' It's almost like a business card.

A baby writer should take inspiration from her predecessors but also find ways to tell her own stories in her own way.

I'm certainly no Bruce Springsteen in terms of being a storyteller, but I'm trying to get a better handle on it and not always go after it from an autobiographical standpoint.

To some degree, I consider myself a writer, and so I have a strong relationship with literature.

It's really hard to be a story writer - no matter how much acclaim you get - and not write a novel.

My whole life I've tried to find the thing I can do that other people can't do, and invest in that, and the one thing I can do is write narratives and build characters. I can do that.

I rather envy writers who do variations on a theme. I like reading those books, but in practice, I can't do it.