“I chose to write about food: food is inherently political, but it's also an essential part of people's real lives. It's where the public and private spheres connect. I wanted to show readers that the larger politics of war and economics and U.S. foreign policy are inextricably bound to the supposedly trivial details of our everyday lives.” PeopleWritingWarRealShowsWantedPoliticalPolicyReaderEssentialsEconomicsEverydayBoundsDetailsReal LifeSpheresForeign PolicyEveryday Life Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“I figure I write for people who are intelligent enough to do some labor. Lazy readers are not my ideal readers.” PeopleWritingEnoughFiguresReaderIdealsLaborIntelligentLazy Author:Rigoberto Gonzalez
“There is all this stuff about how sensitive poets are and how in touch with feelings, etc. they are, but really all we care about is language. At least in the initial stages of the process of writing the poem, though later other things start to come in, and a really good poem usually needs something more than just an interest in the material of language to mean anything to a reader.” NeedsWritingMeanFeelingsCareLanguageStuffProcessInterestStagePoetMaterialsReaderSensitiveEtcInitials Author:Matthew Zapruder
“Writing blog posts is totally freeing in a whole new way for me. I'm not writing it for any editor, and I'm not being paid, so I can say whatever I want. I don't have to justify the cost of a book to readers; they get it for free, so expectations are naturally low. (And no one-star reviews!)” WayWantWritingI CanBookWholeStarsReaderCostLowsExpectationsPaidPostsJustifyEditorsReviewsNew WaysBlogs Author:Kate Christensen
“Blogging is different from both journal-writing and writing for print. It's more fun than either of those. The freedom to write whatever I want and the unmediated connection with readers are the payoff.” WantWritingDifferentFunReaderConnectionsPrintJournalBloggingPayoffJournal Writing Author:Kate Christensen
“If you had told me twenty years ago that I would write a novel set in Russia, much less two, I simply wouldn't have believed you. I had no familiarity with Russia or its history, but part of what drives me as a reader, and more and more as a writer, is curiosity, the desire to explore unfamiliar terrain and inhabit alternate lives.” IfsWritingYearsTwoDesireNovelReaderYears AgoTwentiesCuriosityRussiaFamiliarityUnfamiliarTerrain Author:Debra Dean
“Not to any really influential effect, but certainly there have been comments that have surprised me. It's surprising sometimes to get particular perspectives on your work, and it's enlightening sometimes to know that non-writers and readers out there have certain assumptions about everything that I both want to keep in mind and want to forget about why I write, and about the connection between me as a private person and the stuff that I think about on the page.” ThinkingKnowsWantWritingMindPersonsHas BeensSometimesCertainStuffForgetEffectsParticularPerspectiveReaderPagesConnectionsAssumptionCommentSurprisingEnlighteningInfluential Author:Chang-Rae Lee
“I try to be aware of what I'm concerned about, aware of how I feel about myself in the world, aware of how I feel about the issues of the day, but I guess I don't want to write essays in my head about my craft and maybe it's because I teach and talk about craft of other writers as a reader. I feel the moment I start doing that is when it's going to kill me.” WorldWantFeelsWritingTryingMomentsTeachIssuesReaderConcernedCraftsEssaysKill Me Author:Chang-Rae Lee
“I don't revise a lot when writing short stories. As far as the novel, I definitely thought more about plot. Honestly, I'm still pretty confused about what "plot" means. I've been reading some of my Goodreads reviews and one reader noted that the The Last Days of California "reads like a short story stretched to the breaking point, padded and brought into novel range..." I don't know what people want, really.” PeopleKnowsWantWritingMeanStillsStoriesLastsReadingNovelReaderHonestlyRangeCaliforniaConfusedPlotReviewsShort StoryLast DayGoodreadsPoint BreakWriting ShortWriting Short Stories Author:Mary J. Miller
“I don't think we need a critic to negotiate with the audience. People say, "Who are you writing for?" I'm writing for myself but my audience is anybody who knows how to read. I think a story should engage anybody who knows how to read. And I hope that my stories do, maybe on a different level for more sophisticated readers than, say, a high school kid, but still a story has got to grab you. That's why we read it.” PeopleThinkingKnowsNeedsShouldWritingStillsDifferentStoriesKidsSchoolLevelsAudienceKnow HowReaderHigh SchoolCriticsSophisticatedDifferent Levels Author:T.C. Boyle
“I don't think about the reader in any conscious way that impacts the writing, as far as, Hey, most readers would like this! But at the same time, if it were presented to me: "John, you're going to write a novel. It's going to take you a few years. When you're done with it, there's a law that no one's allowed to read it." I don't think I would write it. I want someone to read it!” IfsThinkingWayWantWritingYearsDoneLawNovelReaderConsciousImpactHey Author:John Brandon
“Writing in a nuanced way, getting at all the details in a way that remains interesting for the reader, is very difficult.” WayWritingDifficultInterestingReaderRemainsDetails Author:Carl Hart
“An initial impulse of mine was to portray the way in which a city is impacted by war. But this is vague, no? After all, how do you actually have an entire city - or country, for that matter - be a character a reader can follow? One way is by making it smaller and personalizing it, by writing specifically about the citizens and the way they contend with the reality, even minutiae, especially minutiae, of their lives.” WayWritingWarCountryMatterCharacterRealityCitiesMinesReaderCitizensOne WayImpulseVagueInitialsMinutiae Author:Said Sayrafiezadeh
“In general, teaching writing makes me a far better reader because there's so many ways to write a good sentence or a good story, and as a teacher I'm obliged to consider them all, rather than staying in the safety of my own tendencies.” WayWritingStoriesMy OwnTeacherTeachingReaderSafetySentencesTendenciesStayingObligedGood StoryTeaching Writing Author:Leni Zumas
“With a novel, you have to have a story. It's much more important to have it matter to the reader what happens to people, and it has to make sense and end in a way that is satisfying. So I spend a lot more time thinking about that. Then the writing itself usually is easier for me, because I know where it's going.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayWritingImportantEndsMatterStoriesHappensNovelReaderEasierMake SenseMore TimeSatisfying Author:Dave Barry
“One of the things that's amazing about reading the private writing of these folks is that they enthusiastically describe things which we have now seen, and which are widely regarded as unappealing. They'll write, "It's going to be beautiful, we're going to have a town of 1,000 stone buildings that are all identical." And we as modern readers think, we've seen that; that's bad Soviet architecture or a public housing project. Nobody fantasizes about living there.” ThinkingWritingBeautifulReadingModernBuildingReaderProjectsStonesTownsFolksArchitectureSovietHousingIdenticalPublic Housing Author:Christine Jennings
“You sing about the things you're influenced by. So we've been big into sci-fi since we were kids, things like Star Trek etc. Then came movies like Terminator and Dune. Burton is also a really big reader and loves sci-fi novels which helps him write. It's also really cool he does that because it's through the perspective of how we see things going or possibly going.” WritingDoeHelpingBigsKidsStarsNovelPerspectiveReaderAnd LoveEtcSci FiReally Cool Author:Dino Cazares
“Joyce's writing in Dubliners contains some of the most unshowily beautiful sentences in the English language. I learned from him that if you write a good, clean line of English, you can get under a reader's skin. The reader won't even know why, but there you are. Didion, Berger, the many others I mentioned above, and many, many poets I haven't mentioned. Writers of this calibre are the moving targets the rest of us are always chasing.” IfsKnowsWritingBeautifulMovingLanguageLinesHavensPoetReaderSkinsCleanSentencesTargetChasingEnglish LanguageJoyce Author:Teju Cole
“I'm my own "ideal reader" in the sense that I write novels that I would want to read.” WantWritingMy OwnNovelReaderIdeals Author:Steve Erickson
“I could always write in a wide variety. My moods change same as reader's moods change. I really do love writing the historicals, however, but if that's all I did I would go crazy, same with any of the other kinds of books. I need variety.” IfsNeedsWritingKindBookCrazyReaderWideMoodVarietyMood Changes Author:Joe R. Lansdale
“If you write for the New Yorker, you always get people critiquing your grammar, you can count on it. So, because a lot of New Yorker readers are kind of, you know, amateur grammarians and so you do get a lot of that.” PeopleIfsKnowsWritingKindReaderGrammarNew Yorkers Author:Louis Menand
“You know, my problem with most screenwriting is it is a blueprint. It's like they're afraid to write the damn thing. And I'm a writer. That's what I do. I want it to be written. I want it to work on the page first and foremost. So when I'm writing the script, I'm not thinking about the viewer watching the movie. I'm thinking about the reader reading the script.” ThinkingKnowsWantWritingFirstsProblemReadingWrittenReaderPagesScriptsDamnViewersBlueprintsScreenwritingDamn Things Author:Quentin Tarantino
“Is rule of thumb in writing game: if story requires many long descriptions of smells so vile that will give reader nausea, is not likely to find publisher.” IfsGivingWritingLongStoriesGamesReaderSmellDescriptionSongwritingPublishersThumbsNausea Author:Dean Koontz
“But as I wrote the book [Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet], I tried to write it as clearly and directly and passionately as possible just thinking of communicating to readers who might want to learn about this great thinker and be inspired by him as I was.” ThinkingWantWritingBookMightReaderInspiredCommunicateProphetThinkerBe InspiredGreat Thinkers Author:Jeffrey Rosen
“Bland writing - timid, antiseptic, vanilla writing - is nearly as unhealthy as the brutal and dark. Instead of sipping, say, elixir, nectar, tequila, or champagne, the reader is invited to slurp lumpy milk or choke on the author's dust bunnies.” WritingDarkReaderDustMilkBrutalInvitedChokeChampagneUnhealthyBunniesBlandVanillaNectarElixirTequilaSippingDust Bunnies Author:Tom Robbins
“Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader.” GivingWritingDoePleasurePowerfulEmotionReaderNever Giving UpInspiring Writing Author:Joseph Joubert
“It's pretty easy to think of the idea of a story, and maybe even to write a scene or two, but understanding the ebb and flow of a narrative, where to leave the little clues your protagonist (and reader) need, while playing fair, takes a lot more skill and patience than you might think.” ThinkingNeedsWritingLittlesTwoIdeasStoriesMightEasyUnderstandingReaderSceneSkillsFairsFlowNarrativeClueProtagonistsEbb And Flow Author:Dennis Green
“For nearly a decade now, I've been teaching others how to thrive by filling their bodies with energizing vitamins, nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. Not a day goes by when someone doesn't write me to say, "Thanks, I feel better now, too." Those letters from my readers are my digital cardinals.” FeelsWritingBodyTeachingReaderLettersDecadesThanksThriveDigitalFeel BetterFillingVitaminsCardinalsMineralsNutrientsBetter NowEnergizingTeaching OthersAntioxidants Author:Kris Carr
“The 250-page outline for American Tabloid. The books are so dense. They're so complex, you cannot write like I write off the top of your head. It's the combination of that meticulousness and the power of the prose and, I think, the depth of the characterizations and the risks that I've taken with language that give the books their clout. And that's where I get pissed off at a lot of my younger readers.” ThinkingGivingWritingBookLanguageTakenRiskReaderPagesComplexesDepthCombinationProseOutlinesDenseTabloidsPissed OffCharacterizationClout Author:James Ellroy
“Mainly, I try not to think about my readers as I write - I just think of my characters and myself - If they're interesting to me, my hope is that they'll be interesting to others as well.” IfsThinkingWritingTryingWellsCharacterInterestingReader Author:Jacqueline Woodson
“As far as which writers embody this form of gentle power - Tobias Wolff, for sure. His persona and his writing both share an easy, capacious confidence that says he has faith in his readers.” WritingFormEasyShareReaderGentleHave FaithPersonaTobias Author:George Saunders
“Have fun writing, because it enhances both the writer's and reader's experience.” WritingFunReaderHaving Fun Author:Phillip Lopate
“I thought if I was open and honest, it would help the reader to get open and honest, and they also would realize sometimes when you write a book, people think you're an expert and that's not always true.” PeopleIfsThinkingWritingBookSometimesHelpingRealizingHonestReaderExperts Author:John C. Maxwell
“The minute you finish a piece of writing it doesn't belong to you, you don't write it any more, it belongs to you, the reader, the listener, the audience. So the less you know about whether or not this is me talking about my life or this is me talking about your life, I think the better. Then it can belong to you and it can live outside of the moment in which it was conceived.” ThinkingKnowsWritingMomentsTalkingAudiencePiecesMinutesReaderListenersThis Is Me Author:Kate Tempest
“I had a couple of Asian readers and other folks tell me, "Oh, you have a lot of sex in your writing."” WritingSexReaderCoupleFolksAsian Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim
“Listen carefully to the feedback your readers give you. Dont write unless people want you to write, a lot of people write just because they want to write.” PeopleWantGivingWritingReaderFeedback Author:Max Lucado
“I come from a nation where fantastic fiction has a very low status, unless it fits into some very specific categories or is written by already established authors. I don't by any means try to hide what I write, but the way people think in categories here is pretty extreme: it blots out discussing the actual work on its own terms. That's made me loath to talk about my own work in terms of genre, because once you get a label, it sticks and poof go a slew of potential readers and reviewers because eww, fantasy cooties.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingTryingMeanMadeNationsTermMy OwnFictionFantasyWrittenReaderFitLowsSticksExtremesFantasticLabelsGenreCategoriesDiscussingReviewersCooties Author:Karin Tidbeck
“I do think they [French] view my writing itself as exotic - though that's probably not the best term for it - to a small extent, mainly because I say things that most French writers would probably hesitate to say for fear of offending someone or upsetting public sensibilities. I don't think that answers the question, but I'm not much good at figuring readers out or I would probably be writing bestsellers.” ThinkingWritingTermAnswersViewsReaderUpsetSensibilityExoticOffending Author:Donald Ray Pollock
“It is always just telling a story, regardless of the age of the reader. Except, if I'm writing something for kids, I know there has to be hope. I don't necessarily feel that responsibility for adults, but I emphatically feel it for children. That's the only difference. There's no syntax difference. There's no semantics difference. There's no thematic difference.” IfsKnowsFeelsWritingChildrenStoriesKidsAgeDifferencesResponsibilityReaderAdultsSyntaxSemanticsThematic Author:Kate DiCamillo
“Ever read any [Friedrich] Hayek? He's great. The Road To Serfdom is like... I'm not a big political-science reader, but I actually dog-eared my copy. I ended up going back through it and writing a précis, I was so impressed by this book. It's all about what happens when government tries to make everything right.” WritingTryingBookBigsGovernmentHappensPoliticalDogReaderCopiesImpressedPolitical ScienceHayekRoad To SerfdomFriedrich Hayek Author:P. J. O'Rourke
“I was simply writing out our family stories in my online journal, scratching out what I want to remember, what I was wrestling out with God. Unbeknownst to me, two readers of the posts, both published authors, contacted their agent, Bill Jensen, within 24 hours of each other, encouraging him to drop me a line. Which he did.” WantWritingTwoStoriesRememberHoursLinesReaderBillsAgentsPostsOur FamilyOnlineWrestlingJournal Author:Ann Voskamp
“You may be somebody who writes best for a small press that doesn't pay very well, but you might have a fascinating and intricate style that might not appeal to as many readers but will be incredibly meaningful to the readers you have. Truly, that's as wonderful if not more wonderful.” IfsWritingWellsMayMightPayWonderfulStyleReaderPressesMeaningfulAppealsFascinatingIntricate Author:Alice Mattison
“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
“When I'm writing, I'm thinking, "Well, this might be a book that I'll always be happy with, and certainly readers will be happy with." But another part of me knows that when I'm past the stage of writing, the book is gonna have good things about it, bad things about it - probably more bad than good. I just know that. That's who I am.” ThinkingKnowsWritingWellsBookMightPastStageReaderGood ThingsWho I AmBad ThingsAlways Be Happy Author:John Edgar Wideman
“I knew I had found my life's passion after writing my first column for The Washington Post. The response was like nothing we had seen in the business section. Everyday people were writing that finally someone was speaking to them in a way that was understandable. I think we were all shocked at how many readers wrote in to say that they too had a Big Mama who taught them about money.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingFirstsBigsPassionFoundTaughtReaderResponseEverydayPostsSectionsShockedMamaColumnsBig Mama Author:Michelle Singletary
“I have a lot of respect for readers because I'm a reader. That's how I got into writing.” WritingReader Author:Toni Morrison
“[In the moment of reading writer and reader] are both briefly their best selves, or at least better selves. A flawed human being writes something and 60 years later a reader picks up the book and something in them rises to meet it.” WritingYearsHumansBookSelfMomentsReadingHuman BeingsReaderPicksFlawedBest Self Author:George Saunders
“These days, most of my interactions with young people are centered on the poetry or theater classes I teach, so the students I know are reading contemporary poets (they love Willie Perdomo) and scripts (No Child, by Nilaja Sun and Twilight by Anna Deavere Smith). I don't know their reading habits outside of our class, but I believe that they enjoy stories that they can relate to, learn from, be challenged by - you know, the usual good writing that every reader craves.” PeopleKnowsWritingBelieveChildrenStoriesYoungReadingI BelieveEnjoyClassTeachSunStudentsPoetReaderHabitTheaterScriptsContemporaryRelateThese DaysUsualInteractionTwilightCraveGood WritingAnnaReading Habits Author:Renee Watson
“When you write an essay, of course you're going to get pushback, but you're going to be allowed to make your case at leisure. You're going to be allowed to take into account possible objections and to fully humanize your reader. That feels to me like a much more sane thing to do.” FeelsWritingCoursesCasesReaderAccountsThings To DoLeisureSaneEssaysObjections Author:George Saunders
“If you understand writing as primarily engaging an imaginary reader, well, you've kind of been doing that your whole life. You walk into a room and you're engaging with imaginary strangers because you don't actually know who they are. For me, it was really empowering to say: this is a branch of entertainment and communication and engagement, as opposed to jumping over some perceived literary high bar. That was the buzzkill.” IfsKnowsWritingWellsKindWholeWalksRoomsCommunicationReaderEntertainmentStrangerWhole LifeBarsBranchesEmpoweringEngagementImaginaryEngagingJumping Author:George Saunders