When you write the first book of a series, you do have to be careful what you put in because then you are stuck with it. Martha Grimes bookcarefulput Change image and share on social
When you write what you know, you stay in control. One of the first things I encourage my writing students to do is to lose control - say what they want to say, break structure. Natalie Goldberg breakcontrolencourage Change image and share on social
When you write, you are not either sex. But when you're read you are definitely gendered. Hilary Mantel genderreadsex Change image and share on social
When you write, you don't have the social constraints of having people in front of you, so you talk about abstract matters. Nassim Nicholas Taleb abstractconstraintfront Change image and share on social
When you write, you hear the characters speaking to you as you take dictation from what they say. And obviously, they had particular personalities when you hear them. Robert Rankin characterdictationhear Change image and share on social
When you write, you're inside the project. You can't really think about the reception. It has to be worth it even if no one reads it. Ta-Nehisi Coates insideprojectread Change image and share on social
When you write, you take the ball and you hold it up to the light and you turn it slowly, and let people draw their own conclusions. And try to bring empathy to all sides of the equation. Justin Cronin ballbringconclusion Change image and share on social
When you write, you write out of your best self. Everything else drops away. Salman Rushdie dropwrite Change image and share on social
When you write your first book aged 25 or so, you have 25 years of experience, albeit much of it juvenile experience. The second book comes after an extra year sitting in bookshops. Pretty soon, you begin to run on empty. Douglas Adams agealbeitbegin share on social
When young I did my best to undo that bit of the British Empire I found myself in: that is, old Southern Rhodesia. Doris Lessing bitebritishempire Change image and share on social
