The writer is more concerned to know than to judge.

The public wants work which flatters its illusions.

Critics are to authors what dogs are to lamp-posts.

Online review sites are the slushpiles of feedback.

Start writing by thinking, not wrestling with words.

Writing is a gift to both the writer and the reader.

This is no book. Whoever touches this touches a man.

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

let me live, love, and say it well in good sentences

To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes.

We are great writers on the same dreadful typewrite

I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.

It is not my words that I polish, but my ideas. 102

Only half the story is true. The rest is necessary.

The hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.