“A trouble with poetry is the presence of presumptuousness in poetry, the sense you get in a poem that the poet takes for granted an interest on the reader's part in the poet's autobiographical life, in the poet's memories, problems, difficulties and even minor perceptions. I try to presume that no one is interested in me. And I think experience bears that out. No one's interested in the experiences of a stranger - let's put it that way. And then you have difficulty combined with presumptuousness, which is the most dire trouble with poetry.” ThinkingWayTryingProblemInterestMemoriesTroublePoetBearsReaderPerceptionDifficultyStrangerGrantedPoetry IsMinors Author:Billy Collins
“I want the reader to feel something is astonishing. Not the 'what happens,' but the way everything happens. These long short story fictions do that best, for me.” WayWantFeelsLongStoriesHappensFictionReaderShort StoryAstonishingEverything Happens For A Reason Author:Alice Munro
“I was one of the first authors to have an active website. I'm totally obsessed with technology. I'm always looking for ways to connect with my readers. I answer all my fan mail.” WayFirstsAnswersTechnologyFansReaderActiveObsessedMailWebsiteFan Mail Author:Jodi Picoult
“I come to writing the same way I come to teaching, which is that my goal is always to create life-long readers.” WayWritingLongGoalTeachingReaderLong Life Author:Rick Riordan
“I think anytime you're writing to the middle grades, you're writing to young readers who are trapped in a number of ways between two worlds: between childhood and adulthood, between their friends and their parents.” ThinkingWorldWayWritingTwoYoungParentNumbersChildhoodMiddleReaderGradesTrappedAdulthoodTwo Worlds Author:Rick Riordan
“I think, in a written novel, the way in which you play with the readers' emotion or the way in which you engage the readers' emotions can be very indirect. You could come at it through irony or comedy, etcetera, and you could capture people's sympathies and feelings kind of by stealth if you like.” PeopleIfsThinkingWayKindPlayFeelingsEmotionNovelComedyWrittenReaderIronyCaptureIndirectStealthEtcetera Author:Salman Rushdie
“To me, the writer's main job is to just make the story unscroll in such a way that the reader is snared - she's right there, seeing things happen and caring about them. And if you dedicate yourself to this job, the meanings more or less take care of themselves. That's the theory, anyway.” IfsWayStoriesHappensCareJobsSeeingTheoryReaderCaringTake CareThings Happen Author:George Saunders
“I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y in view - whether it's a reader, a prize or a sale.” WayWritingMightViewsReaderPrizeVery Happy Author:Will Self