Madeleine L'Engle Quotes

Screenplays I didn't really care about, journalism, travel books, getting my writer friends to write about their dreams or something. I just determined to write the books I had to write.

I started writing to please myself, a story I would like to read, and that is still true.

I don't usually think of my writing as a 'challenge' because I enjoy the process so much. I suppose that's what's helped me to avoid 'writer's block' all these years.

I am sure of this: that no one can write a book which children will like unless he write it for himself first.

I throw everything I have into whatever story I'm writing - and so there's something immensely gratifying about finishing one piece and then starting fresh with a new setting, time period and cast of characters, getting to see the world through a completely different lens each time.

I think one of the keys to better writing is releasing all of your ideas and to not be afraid. Dream big. This could be the greatest novel in the world you know.

I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way.

There's actually nothing interesting about me except what I write.

I don't think there's a shortage of material in the world. Or in my head. I just pray for continued good health, because I've got other stories to tell.

Most people who are trying to write kind of sit in their basements and pull it out of their imaginations.

When I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough.

Being an author is fun. It's a great job, because I can stay up as late as I want, and if I feel like taking the day off, I do it. Plus, I get to make up silly stories and draw pictures all day.

What's the challenge in writing a novel that few people will read? I'm more than happy writing what I do and have no plans to change that.

What I'm trying to do is to write a story. If you take something from it, that's wonderful; if you don't, that's wonderful as well.

I had no real idea I was going to become a writer. It was just a game for me. I just liked pretending, daydreaming and imagining.

I used to teach at the Columbia journalism school, and I would tell my students that every book has to have a sentence that motivates it.

When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor or the reviewer or anyone but my characters and their story!

In a way, I started 'Goon Squad' not even realizing I was writing a book. I thought I was just writing a few stories to stall before starting this other book that I wanted to write - or thought I wanted to write: I still haven't written it.

Over time, I decided to take up only those stories I love.

Anything that feels like good characters, I am excited to do whether I write it or not. But if I don't find it in the world, I will write it myself.

Being a writer is great because you get to come up with stuff.

My experience of fiction was, in the beginning, so exploratory. I wasn't sitting down to a desk at Yaddo with a month, thinking I have to have a draft of a novel.

I just loved the idea of writing for different personalities all the time.

There is pressure when you have a very big book like 'Shadow Divers' to follow up with something big. But you can't let that pressure determine what you do. You just look for the best stories, and when you find a great one, you tell it.

If I did anything 'next', I would do writing.