A novel with a bad middle is a bad book. A bad ending is something I've just gotten in the habit of forgiving. Lev Grossman badbookend Change image and share on social
A novel wouldn't be a book if there weren't some flights of fancy on the part of the author, stopping time to examine things, or to tell a joke. Ned Vizzini authorbookexamine Change image and share on social
A novelist can get by on story, but the poet has nothing but the words. Janet Fitch novelistpoetstory Change image and share on social
A novelist can never be his own reader, except when he is ridding his manuscript of syntax errors, repetitions, or the occasional superfluous paragraph. Patrick Modiano errormanuscriptnovelist Change image and share on social
A novelist has a specific poetic license which also applies to his own life. Jerzy Kosinski applylicenselife Change image and share on social
A novelist is, like all mortals, more fully at home on the surface of the present than in the ooze of the past. Vladimir Nabokov fullyhomemortal Change image and share on social
A novelist needs to know his own strong points and weak points. David Mitchell novelistpointstrong Change image and share on social
A novelist, poet and playwright who writes equally well in Shona and English, Charles Mungoshi is Zimbabwe's finest and most versatile writer. His life project has been to interrogate the notion of family. Petina Gappah charleenglishequally share on social
A novelist's lack of awareness of and critical distance to his own body of work is due to a phenomenon that I have noticed in myself and many others: as soon as it is written, every new book erases the last one, leaving me with the impression that I have forgotten it. Patrick Modiano awarenessbodybook share on social
A novelist's sense that he or she is 'above' a certain genre mainly comes out of the notion that the genre is somehow a debased version of his or her preferred form. Lynn Coady debaseformgenre Change image and share on social