John Green Quotes

I really think that reading is just as important as writing when you're trying to be a writer because it's the only apprenticeship we have, it's the only way of learning how to write a story.

Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It’s not just a question of how-to, you see; it’s also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing.

When people ask, "Is there any advice you'd give a young writer?," I say write short stories. They afford lots of failure. Pastiche is a great way to start.

Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.

I'm a novelist who read a lot as a kid. When you grow up on books and then grow up to write books, famous authors are a lot more meaningful to you than TV and movie stars.

In my younger days, I was trying to write sophisticated prose and fantastic stories.

One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they're just infested with lots of stuff.

I love to read, and I love to write. I love to read. You have no idea how many books I have.

I liked to write from the time I was about 12 or 13. I loved to read. And since I only spoke to my brother, I would write down my thoughts. And I think I wrote some of the worst poetry west of the Rockies. But by the time I was in my 20s, I found myself writing little essays and more poetry - writing at writing.

Like most authors, I also love to read.

I got into writing because books and stories were always a big part of my life. I loved listening to them and then reading them, and I loved making them up.

I could come up with 50 stories that I am thinking about.

With each book, you get better as a writer. There is no back door to the industry. Read in the genre you want to write, as the more you read, the better you will get as an author.

I can give advice to anyone interested in writing in one word: Read! I think it's much more important to be a reader than to be a writer!

Write the kind of story you would like to read. People will give you all sorts of advice about writing, but if you are not writing something you like, no one else will like it either.

I think that one of the things you have to do to become a storyteller is spend a lot of time reading stories.

I always liked to write and had fun writing, but I didn't have any pretensions about being a writer. I liked to read and liked to putz around and write little stories or poems, but my thing was sports.

I grew up loving books and stories. Reading became my favourite pastime, and you have to be a reader before you can be a writer.

I've found that writers who don't read really can't write.

When people ask me for secrets to writing, I say, 'Read to write.'

The best way to learn to write is to read in the genre you might be interested in; then, you need to actually sit down and write. In a lot of cases, the first book you write will not get published. Do not get hung up on that. Start a second book.

When I write a novel I start each morning by reading for 20 minutes.

The three things that help writing the most are living, writing, and reading. In that order.

There are all sorts of theories and ideas about what constitutes a good opening line. It's tricky thing, and tough to talk about because I don't think conceptually while I work on a first draft -- I just write. To get scientific about it is a little like trying to catch moonbeams in a jar. But there's one thing I'm sure about. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.

The thing that inspires me most is reading and just observing the people around me. I think those are the two things that make me want to write.