Carol Shields Quotes

Write the story you need to tell and want to read. It's impossible to know what others want, so don't waste time trying to guess.

What I don't like is constructing a book that fits in with any kind of generic template, whether it's fiction or nonfiction.

It might be more difficult because you haven't got a book or a prop, but for the most part I like to write unpaid... initially and my own stories.

If you don't see the book you want on the shelves, write it.

I love writing fiction - you can take just what you want from a place, and leave the rest.

Sometimes if there's a book you really want to read, you have to write it yourself.

There is no lighter burden, nor more agreeable, than a pen.

Readers would email me and say, 'Please write a novel about so-and-so,' but it has to come from yourself and not so much from your readership.

I prefer writing originals.

I started writing because I found I could spend more time in my own imagination by doing that than I could by reading.

I have always loved reading, so was interested in the literary world, and took many literary portraits.

I'm thinking my next book should be set on a tropical island, which will obviously require days, even weeks of meticulous research, but I'm prepared to make that sacrifice. That's just the sort of dedicated writer I am.

The marvelous thing about 'Doctor Who' is that it tells stories that no one else can tell.

I loved to read, but I always thought that the dream was too far away. The person who had written the book was a god, it wasn't a person.

I am not interested in slice of life, what I want is a slice of the imagination.

When I am writing anything in general, I just want to tell the story that exists in my head; I don't try to write a parable or make a point.

Each book first begins with a little idea.

The possibilities are infinite with new writing; every time you open a new script, there's no limit to what it might contain.

Nothing beats novel writing because it's complete expression of you. You just control everything. Not even a movie director has that level of control.

I get to do what I love every day. I get to crawl into someone else's head and I love that.

Fantasy is totally wide open; all you really have to do is follow the rules you've set. But if you're writing about science, you have to first learn what you're writing about.

I started to read at a very early age, and I just thought that books and reading were really the most wonderful thing that life had to offer. I think I wrote my very first piece of fiction at the age of 12, but then I didn't write any more for quite a long time.

I think I'm a born storyteller. Inspiration is all around me. I can read a newspaper article and come up with an idea for a book.

Now, as a writer, the whole world is your nail polish display, and what's more, you can help yourself. A thrilling, colourful array of gorgeous human peculiarity revolves before your eyes, and you still can't quite believe it's all yours for the taking.

Novels are so interior and idiosyncratic and such a solitary process.