David Almond Quotes

I can create countries just as I can create the actions of my characters. That is why a lot of travel seems to me a waste of time.

As long as there are things to wonder about, there are stories to be written about them. That makes me happy, because writing about things seems to be my thing.

I have likened writing a novel to going on a journey, with some notion of the destination I will arrive at, but not the whole picture - which emerges gradually as a series of revelations, as the journey goes along.

I don't have any office; I can write everywhere. So, I put a piece of paper on the table, and then I travel. Literally, writing for me is like travelling. It's getting out of myself and living another life - maybe a better life.

I write and I read, and I write and read my way into and out of ideas and life. And that's what we do. That's what storytellers do.

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'm ever curious about the world. I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about. Having a vivid imagination is also a plus.

When I try to write I try to write something different every time. That's the challenge.

I do not understand how on earth you can become a writer without seeing the world.

I don't write about things that I have the answers to or things that are very close to home. It just wouldn't be any adventure. It wouldn't have any vitality.

One thing I always did in my career was writing. I always was writing. I was trying to create things. For myself, for other people.

I've been a traveller, but I don't travel so much now. I'm trying to do it vicariously through my writing. I'm trying to write books that will draw readers away from their lives but send them back in a more awakened way.

Nothing much interested me other than playing with language and telling stories and doing something with the wonders of the world around me.

Writing an essay is like a school assignment: I have my topic, I organize my thoughts, and I write it. I have complete control over what I'm doing. Writing a novel is like setting out on a journey without knowing who or what I'll encounter, how long it's going to take, or where I'm going to end up.

I really enjoy writing novels. It's like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.

If I knew a story page by page before I started writing it, I just wouldn't do it. The process of discovery is really important for my own enjoyment.

I was born to travel and write verse.

I write what I don't know. It's way more interesting.

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

I'm driven to go out and find new things to write about.

I learned to dream through reading, learned to create dreams through writing, and learned to develop dreamers through teaching. I shall always be a dreamer. Come dream with me.

I wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.

Part of the reasons I have lived the life I have is because I wanted to have an adventurous life. But my best adventures are more literary than political.

Writing is such a good thing to do because you can't really get bored with it. If you're bored with writing, you're bored with life.

I'm not going to lie; the most fun of writing these books is just saying, 'Where am I going to write about? Let me go there!'