“Oh, my God. What if you wake up some day, and you're 65 or 75, and you never got your novel or memoir written; or you didn't go swimming in warm pools or oceans because your thighs were jiggly or you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It's going to break your heart. Don't let this happen.” PeopleIfsHeartBigsHappensKidsImaginationSpaceBreakNovelCreativeNiceWrittenOceanComfortableWake UpWarmMemoirRadicalStaringWhat IfSwimmingPoolPerfectionismThighsBreak Your HeartJuicyCreative LifeSillinessPleasing PeopleStaring Into Space Author:Anne Lamott
“I love short stories - reading and writing them. The best short stories distill all the potency of a novel into a small but heady draught. They are perfect reading material for the bus or train or for a lunchtime break. Everything extraneous has been strained off by the author. The best short stories pack the heft of any novel, yet resonate like poetry.” WritingHas BeensStoriesReadingPerfectBreakNovelMaterialsTrainBusShort StoryPacksReading And WritingShort LovePotencyDraughtLunchtimeBest Short Author:Ian Rankin
“Writing has to do with truth-telling. When you're writing, let's say, an essay for a magazine, you try to tell the truth at every moment. You do your best to quote people accurately and get everything right. Writing a novel is a break from that: freedom. When you're writing a novel, you are in charge; you can beef things up.” PeopleWritingTryingMomentsBreakNovelMagazinesTelling The TruthEssaysBeef Author:Nicholson Baker
“I'm trying to break myself of that habit [of not writing out a first draft ] because I'm working on a couple novels and I know if I tried to write those books the way I wrote the stories it would take me years to finish.” IfsKnowsWayWritingTryingYearsFirstsBookStoriesBreakNovelCoupleHabitTake Me Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“I think I was also afraid of the novel. I write line by line, proceeding at snail's pace, rewriting as I go and paring the excess away. This is against all the best advice for writing long form prose, and I have tried over the years to break myself of the habit, but I can't bear to leave anything ungainly on the page and half the fun for me is that tinkering. So the length of a novel was a daunting prospect.” ThinkingWritingYearsLongI CanFormFunLinesHalfBreakNovelAdviceBearsHabitPagesProseLengthPaceExcessProceedingBest AdviceAll The BestRewritingSnailTinkering Author:Debra Dean
“I try not to write more than two or three, I try to just write one if possible, I write till the end at least a draft of a play or a novel; but sometimes, I'll take a break for a couple weeks for a project that is paying me money like a television project which I try to stay away from just to stay financially ahead of the game.” IfsWritingTryingTwoEndsSometimesPlayThreeGamesBreakNovelWeekTelevisionCoupleProjectsTill The EndAhead Of The Game Author:Adam Rapp
“I was in school for literature, and read so many 19th century and early 20th century novels that it was hard to break out of that and read an average Jeanette Winterson book or something.” BookHardSchoolLiteratureBreakNovelCenturyAverage20th Century19th CenturyBreak Out Author:Colin Meloy
“I did not have any philosophy at all when I wrote the first novel. I was just wanting to capture experiences that I thought would be inspiring for Indians who are trying to break free from the very high-pressured family environments and do their own thing.” TryingFirstsPhilosophyWould BeBreakNovelEnvironmentCapturePressured Author:Karan Bajaj