Quotessence
Home / Authors / Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel Quotes

Writer

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsThomas CromwellPeopleThinkingWritingBookWorldFirstsShouldWolf HallHenry ViiiI CanWayHistorianNovelRunningWellsYearsFeminismGenerations

Famous Hilary Mantel Quotes

“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
Create image

“When I came to write my Thomas Cromwell books, I moved onto the center ground of English history, but I was never there before. I didn't feel it was my history particularly, coming from Northern Britain, being of Irish extraction, being a cradle Catholic. The image of England I grew up with felt somewhere else. There was an official England in postcards, but it wasn't one I had visited. But I decided to march onto the center ground and occupy it whether it was mine or not.”

FeelsWritingBookFeltMinesGrewGrew UpDecidedEnglandCatholicMovedOfficialsBritainMarchSomewhere ElseCradlePostcardsEnglish HistoryExtractionCromwell
Author:Hilary Mantel
Create image

“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
Create image