“Read Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible. You will particularly hate the advice to write first thing in the morning, but if you can manage it, it might well be the best thing you ever do for yourself. This book is about becoming a writer from the inside out. Many later advice manuals derive from it. You don't really need any others, though if you want to boost your confidence, "how to" books seldom do any harm. You can kick-start a whole book with some little writing exercise.” IfsThinkingWantNeedsWritingFirstsWellsLittlesBookWholeMightHateMorningImpossibleAdviceBecomingExerciseTasksIncludingHarmManageBest ThingsKicksBeing The BestManualsBoostBoost Your Confidence Author:Hilary Mantel
“Imagine the consequences of having the first woman prime minister who is the milk snatcher. [Margaret Thatcher] takes away the nourishment of the nation.” FirstsNationsImagineConsequenceMinistersPrimeMilkPrime MinisterNourishment Author:Hilary Mantel
“It was unfortunate for other women who might come after [Margaret Thatcher] that the first woman to become prime minister was a male impersonator.” FirstsMightMalesMinistersPrimeUnfortunatePrime MinisterImpersonators Author:Hilary Mantel
“My first book was a historical novel. I started writing in 1974. In those days, historical novels meant ladies with swelling bosoms on the cover. Basically, it meant historical romance. It was not respectable as a genre.” WritingFirstsBookRomanceNovelHistoricalGenreRespectableBosomsSwellingHistorical Novels Author:Hilary Mantel
“When I began to read as an adult, my first big enthusiasm was Evelyn Waugh. I read almost exclusively novelists of a generation back. I did the Russians, then I started getting more up to date.” FirstsBigsGenerationsAdultsEnthusiasmNovelistsUp To Date Author:Hilary Mantel
“The writer I adore is Ivy Compton-Burnett.I couldn't get more than a few pages in when I first read her. In many ways, she is very clumsy and her plots are rubbish. But we don't read her for that. There are pages and pages of dialogue. What it requires is real effort and attention.” WayFirstsRealEffortAttentionPagesDialoguePlotAdoreRubbishIvyClumsyCompton Author:Hilary Mantel
“My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.” FirstsBoysCareersInvolvedAmbitionKnightsRailway Author:Hilary Mantel
“'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late.” WritingYearsFirstsShowsLateHallsDesks Author:Hilary Mantel
“Some readers read a book as if it were an instruction manual, expecting to understand everything first time, but of course when you write, you put into every sentence an overflow of meaning, and you create in every sentence as many resonances and double meanings and ambiguities as you can possibly pack in there, so that people can read it again and get something new each time.” PeopleIfsWritingFirstsBookCoursesReaderFirst TimeSentencesSomething NewInstructionExpectingPacksAmbiguityManualsResonanceOverflowDouble Meaning Author:Hilary Mantel
