“You write a book and you finish the book. That's your job done, right? You win the Booker and you have a whole new job. You have to be the thing, right? So instead of writing the story, you somehow are the story. And that I found that sort of terrible.” WritingBookDoneWholeStoriesJobsFoundWinningTerribleNew Job Author:Anne Enright
“These others -- the overwhelming majority of Iraq's people -- have repeatedly given every indication of valuing their newfound freedom: voting in two elections at the risk of their lives, preparing for a third, writing and ratifying a constitution granting more freedoms than exist in any country in the entire Arab Middle East. The secret is out, There is something decent unfolding in Iraq. It's unfolding in the shadow of a terrible insurgency, but a society is finding its way to constitutional politics.” PeopleWayWritingTwoCountryGivenSecretRiskMiddleTerribleFindingsShadowThirdsConstitutionElectionMajorityIraqEastDecentVotingOverwhelmingMiddle EastPreparingIndicationUnfoldingInsurgency Author:Fouad Ajami
“I failed to get into drama school, and my best friend told me I should do stand-up instead. I was always doing gags and voices, so he booked a gig for me without telling me. I only had four days to write it. I did a seven-minute set; the first four minutes were terrible, but the last two were amazing.” ShouldWritingFirstsTwoSchoolLastsVoiceFourMinutesTerribleDramaSevenMy Best FriendGigsGags Author:Marcus Brigstocke
“My best time to write is right after coffee and breakfast - four eggs because, full disclosure: I'm really a komodo dragon - and that's because then I'm energized but not so awake that the critical voice clicks on, the voice that sometimes says, "Don't write that," or "Man, that sentence is terrible - you should give up and go pet the cats."” MenGivingShouldWritingSometimesVoiceFourTerribleGiving UpCatCriticalSentencesCoffeeAwakePetDragonsEggsBreakfastClicksBest TimesDisclosure Author:Jeff VanderMeer
“Most poets, most good poets even, no longer have the heart to write about what is most terrible in the world of the present: the bombs waiting beside the rockets, the hundreds of millions staring into the temporary shelter of their television sets, the decline of the West that seems less a decline than the fall preceding an explosion.” WorldWritingHeartSeemsFallWaitingMillionsTelevisionPoetTerribleWestStaringBombsTemporaryDeclineShelterExplosionsRockets Author:Randall Jarrell