“I have myself always been terrified of plagiarism - of being accused of it, that is. Every writer is a thief, though some of us are more clever than others at disguising our robberies. The reason writers are such slow readers is that we are ceaselessly searching for things we can steal and then pass off as our own: a natty bit of syntax, a seamless transition, a metaphor that jumps to its target like an arrow shot from an aluminum crossbow.” WritingReasonBitsReaderShotsMetaphorCleverStealingTargetTransitionThievesTerrifiedAccusedArrowsPlagiarismRobberySyntaxSeamlessAluminumBeing AccusedCrossbows Author:Joseph Epstein
“Each day is a surprise - and each day I learn something wonderful and new. Both in writing thrillers and in reporting the news, I work to change the world a little bit. I want readers - and viewers - to be surprised and captivated and even inspired.” WorldWantWritingLittlesBitsWonderfulReaderLittle BitNewsSurpriseInspiredChanging The WorldEach DayViewersThrillersCaptivated Author:Hank Phillippi Ryan
“The brand is lying about something, or at least misrepresenting it. When I read a bottle of shampoo or moisturizer or other beauty product, I always perceive a dark subtext. The words haunt me. It comes across as humorous to the reader/audience, but in fact the words really do make me a little bit queasy. Nothing is as easy or natural as consumer brands want us to think - no problem is as resolvable. Your hair will fall out, eventually. Yet we do have these brands, and we line our shelves with them. There's an inherent irony.” ThinkingWantLittlesFactsProblemLyingFallEasyBitsNaturalLinesDarkAudienceProductsHairReaderLittle BitHumorousBrandsConsumersPerceiveIronyBottlesInherentShelvesNo ProblemWant UShampooSubtextBeauty Products Author:Aaron Belz
“I cook a little bit. I make a Hungarian dish called chicken paprikash that's out of this world. I'll give a heads-up to all of your readers that it doesn't have to be between Thai and Mexican every night. Toss some Hungarian in every once in a while. You will not be sorry. Good, solid peasant food.” WorldGivingLittlesNightBitsThis WorldReaderLittle BitSorryCooksChickensEvery NightDishesMexicanPeasantsTossHeads UpThaiHungarians Author:Adam Carolla
“We chose to do this work mathematically, which has the advantage of precision but is not always appreciated by readers. It is perhaps for this reason that anthropologists have not shown much interest in these models, unlike economists, for example, for whom the use of mathematics poses no problem. However, one could reach the same conclusions by using just a bit of common sense.” ReasonUseProblemBitsInterestCommonExampleReaderModelsAdvantageMathematicsCommon SenseConclusionEconomistNo ProblemAppreciatedPrecisionAnthropologists Author:Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza
“I just love the idea that people disappear into the story for a while. You grab a book, and you want to get back to it, and your life becomes a bit of an interruption. I would love readers to feel like that.” PeopleWantFeelsBookIdeasStoriesBitsReaderDisappearGet BackInterruptions Author:Bernard Beckett
“To be simple, I would say a story has to have a bit of narrative, if only "she says," and then enough of a creation of a different time and place to transport the reader.” IfsDifferentEnoughStoriesBitsSimpleCreationReaderNarrativeTransportDifferent Times Author:Lydia Davis
“I do think of my reader, or listener, really, more often, if I give a lecture, for example, and I know that I'm talking to these people; I enjoy sort of preening them a bit. But it's a matter of decorum, basically.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsGivingMatterBitsEnjoyTalkingExampleReaderListenersLecturesDecorum Author:William H. Gass
“One thing I like about writing is that it provides such a wonderful opportunity for confidential chats with readers. In the privacy of writing, and reading, we can discuss topics that are a little touchy, a bit embarrassing, and feel less alone in the process. Feeling consumed by memories from high school. Feeling wimpy. Feeling time-obsessed. Yearning for our fathers. Wishing we were taller, or shorter, or less average. To name just a few.” FeelsWritingLittlesFeelingsSchoolReadingFatherOpportunityNamesWishBitsProcessMemoriesWonderfulOne ThingReaderHigh SchoolAverageObsessedPrivacyYearningTopicsEmbarrassingConsumedOur FatherWriting And ReadingConfidentialTouchy Author:Ralph Keyes
“There wasn't very much time between wrapping Revolutionary Road and starting The Reader. It was about five and a half months, which, for me, isn't that long. Some actors are very good at just going from one thing to another but I've always been a bit useless at that. The preparation time is important for me.” LongImportantActorsBitsHalfFiveOne ThingMonthsReaderStartingVery GoodPreparationUselessRevolutionaryWrapping Author:Kate Winslet
“It's insane to be a writer and not be a reader. When I'm writing I'm more likely to be reading four or five books at once, just in bits and pieces rather than subjecting myself to a really brilliant book and thinking, "Well what's the point of me writing anything?" I'm more likely to read a book through when I take a break from writing.” ThinkingWritingWellsBookReadingBitsBreakFivePiecesFourReaderBrilliantInsaneBits And Pieces Author:Markus Zusak
“I read a lot, but at the same time I'm not a particularly good or diligent or discriminating reader. I go through maybe close to a thousand or more books a year, but a lot of times I'll only read bits and pieces of any one individual text.” YearsBookIndividualBitsPiecesReaderThousandDiligentBits And Pieces Author:Dan Chaon
“It's because of libraries that books like mine get recommended to book clubs and avid readers, who in turn pass them onto others looking to be whisked away from the world for a little while...and perhaps to learn a bit about themselves in the process.” WorldLittlesBookTurnsBitsProcessMinesReaderLibraryClubsAvidBook Club Author:Jodi Picoult
“While THE NEW COOL takes the reader inside a season, limns a team and coaching staff, and masterfully recounts a gripping competition, this is anything but your conventional sports book. And not simply because the 'big game' is...a curious robotics contest. Like the kids he vividly captures, Neal Bascomb has himself performed a masterful bit of engineering here.” BookBigsKidsGamesBitsSportsTeamReaderSeasonsCompetitionCuriousCoachingCaptureEngineeringConventionalStaffContestsRoboticsGrippingCoaching Staff Author:L. Jon Wertheim
“I allude to Back to the Future in the 1985 story to let folks know it was an inspiration and because it literally was the most time-travelly bit of pop culture we had in the mid 80's. I can talk about their tools for considering change. First, the book is metafictive in a traditional sense where I'm showing and telling the reader that the act of writing and reading is a reflexive way to push boundaries of real and literal time travel. Writers and readers are time travellers. The question is what we do with that time we traveled when we leave a book, leave a page.” KnowsWayWritingFirstsI CanBookRealStoriesInspirationCultureReadingBitsReaderPagesToolsFolksPopsBoundariesTraditionalTime TravelConsideringTraveledPop CultureLiteralTravellerWriting And Reading Author:Kiese Laymon
“I think in terms of educating a group of readers, MFA programs are very good. I just think the model of MFA programs in which a young poet goes through the program, publishes a series of books, gets teaching jobs, that's a bit at risk.” ThinkingBookJobsYoungBitsTermRiskGroupsTeachingPoetReaderModelsProgramSeriesVery GoodPublish Author:Edward Hirsch
“I'm a little bit of a news political junkie, a little bit of a reader of history.” LittlesPoliticalBitsReaderLittle BitNewsJunkie Author:David Mandel
“I write with the idea that nobody will care about what I've written; I publish with the idea that nobody will care either. Which is why every time somebody cares enough to read a novel of mine, or respond to it - a reader, a reviewer, even my own editor - I'm a little bit amazed, and so hugely grateful.” WritingLittlesIdeasEnoughCareBitsMy OwnNovelWrittenMinesReaderLittle BitGratefulEditorsAmazedPublishReviewers Author:Lauren Grodstein
“All storytelling is kind of that - there's a bit of text that you put pressure on that spits out some desire that a character has and then you follow that. The other part is that every scene raises an expectation in the reader's mind - that's part of its job is to make you look in and be curious.” MindLooksKindCharacterJobsDesireBitsReaderSceneExpectationsPressureRaisesStorytellingCuriousSpit Author:George Saunders
“This may be a little bit of a provocative thing to say, but the memoirist doesn't owe the reader anything other than a good story and the inclining of the mind in the direction of memory. Of course, the memoirist is not allowed to make things up. But the really skilled memoirist knows what to leave in and what to leave out to serve the story. In autobiography you can't do that.” KnowsMindMayLittlesStoriesCoursesBitsMemoriesReaderLittle BitAutobiographyGood StoryProvocative Author:Dani Shapiro
“I'm still not a great reader, but my wife is and my daughters are, and I envy them. I think I got into a bad habit of trying to do something all the time, instead of trying to sit down and take my time a little bit.” ThinkingTryingLittlesStillsMotherBitsSportsWifeReaderHabitLittle BitDaughterDown AndMy WifeEnvyMy TimeMy DaughterBad Habits Author:Mike Krzyzewski
“For me, the game would be to assume a very intelligent reader who can extrapolate a lot from a little. And that's become my definition of art; to get that pitch just right, where I can put a hint on page three, and the reader's ears go up a bit, as opposed to dropping it all on the first page.” FirstsLittlesArtI CanWould BeThreeGamesBitsReaderPagesEarsIntelligentAssumingDefinitionsDroppingHints Author:George Saunders