To write a novel, you need an iron butt.
The great thing about writing fiction is that you can do whatever the fuck you want, go as far as you are willing to go, and laugh at the people who take it seriously.
On November 18 of alternate years Mr Earbrass begins writing 'his new novel'. Weeks ago he chose its title at random from a list of them he keeps in a little green note-book. It being tea-time of the 17th, he is alarmed not to have thought of a plot to which The Unstrung Harp might apply.
Do not put statements in the negative form. And don't start sentences with a conjunction. If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all. De-accession euphemisms. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky. Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.
Anything designed to be inoffensive isn't worth your time -- life itself is pretty offensive, ending as it does with death.
There's only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that's a writer sitting down to write.
The world requires me to re-write its wretched dialogue!
On their sofas of spice and feathers, the concubines also slept fretfully. In those days the Earth was still flat, and people dreamed often of falling over edges.
Writer's block' is just a fancy way of saying 'I don't feel like doing any work today.
I've found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.
I love working with my hands. My writing is rough, my paper bruised with ink stains.
Writing is turning life's worst moments into money.
If you hear voices, you’re a lunatic. If you write down what they say, you’re an author.
Writing a novel is like going a great distance to take a small shit.
I'm not trying to please anyone. I'm just trying to write a damn book.
In the world of your story, your outline is like the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, your characters are all Atheists.
I go with the flow but I write against it.
For me, that emotional payoff is what it’s all about. I want you to laugh or cry when you read a story...or do both at the same time. I want your heart, in other words. If you want to learn something, go to school.
It has been our experience that American houses insist on very comprehensive editing; that English houses as a rule require little or none and are inclined to go along with the author's script almost without query. The Canadian practice is just what you would expect--a middle-of-the-road course. We think the Americans edit too heavily and interfere with the author's rights. We think that the English publishers don't take enough editorial responsibility. Naturally, then, we consider our editing to be just about perfect. There's no doubt about it, we Canadians are a superior breed! (in a letter to author Margaret Laurence, dated May, 1960)
I would not employ an author to referee a Ping-Pong match. By their very nature they are biased and bloody-minded. Better put a fox in a henhouse than to ask an author to judge his peers. (in a letter to the Governor General about the GA's Literary Awards & his issue--among others--with the judging system, 1981)
