“I long for the simplicity of theatre. I want lessons learned, comeuppances delivered, people sorted out, all before your bladder gets distractingly full. That's what I want. What I know is what we all know, whether we'll admit it or not: every attempt to impose the roundness of a well-made play on reality produces a disaster. Life just isn't so, nor will it be made so.” PeopleKnowsWantWellsLongMadePlayRealityProduceLessonsSimplicityTheatreDisasterLesson LearnedBladderComeuppance Author:John M. Ford
“At one point I intended to write precursor and sequel novels, about the establishment of the Web and its next evolution, but I am very unlikely to now; they would take place in a different universe.” WritingDifferentUniverseNextNovelEvolutionEstablishmentUnlikelySequelsPrecursorDifferent Universes Author:John M. Ford
“It's funny with jeans now, because if they don't feel like a pair of sweatpants, I don't have patience for them anymore! I think I'm becoming increasingly lazy.” IfsThinkingFeelsBecomingLazyPairsJeansHaving PatienceSweatpants Author:Claire Danes
“I'm very happy that the New York Times has spoken well of my stuff; who wouldn't be? But it's not a choice I made.” WellsMadeChoicesStuffNew YorkVery HappyNew York Times Author:John M. Ford
“Creating the fictional background for a game world isn't significantly different from creating a background for fiction.” WorldDifferentGamesFictionCreatingBackgroundsSurfing Author:John M. Ford
“I don't think anyone wants a reader to be completely lost - certainly not to the point of giving up - but there's something to be said for a book that isn't instantly disposable, that rewards a second reading.” ThinkingWantGivingWritingSaidBookReadingLostReaderGiving UpRewardsDisposable Author:John M. Ford
“We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt.” InterestPayCome UpDebtTricksSufficientBorrowedLiving OnBorrowed Time Author:John M. Ford
“Writing is a matter of finding the appropriate balance of dinosaurs and sodomy” WritingMatterBalanceFindingsAppropriateDinosaurs Author:Michael Swanwick
“You see? Characters in books do not read books. Oh, they snap them shut when somebody enters a room, or fling them aside in disgust at what they fancy is said within, or hide their faces in one which they pretend to peruse while somebody else lectures them on matters they'd rather not confront. But they do not read them. 'Twould be recursive, rendering each book effectively infinite, so that no single one might be finished without reading them all. This is the infallible message of discovering on which side of the page you are on.” SaidBookMatterCharacterMightFacesReadingSidesRoomsMessagesPagesInfiniteFinishedFancyDiscoveringDisgustingLecturesSnapsInfallibleFlingRendering Author:Michael Swanwick
“Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today. Let me repeat that: Gene Wolfe is the greatest writer in the English language alive today! I mean it. Shakespeare was a better stylist, Melville was more important to American letters, and Charles Dickens had a defter hand at creating characters. But among living writers, there is nobody who can even approach Gene Wolfe for brilliance of prose, clarity of thought, and depth in meaning” MeanImportantCharacterHandsTodayLanguageAliveApproachCreatingLettersLet MeDepthClarityRepeatsProseGenesEnglish LanguageBrillianceLive For TodayDickensStylistClarity Of ThoughtMelvilleCreating Characters Author:Michael Swanwick