Writers

"Most people are vain, so I try to ensure that any author who comes to stay will find at least one of their books in their room." Duke of Devonshire (1920-2004)

"I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork." Peter De Vries (American novelist, 1910-93)

"Wanting to know an author because you like his work is like wanting to know a duck because you like *pâte.*Donald Duck.*dogs.* Margaret Atwood (Canadian novelist, 1939-)

"The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." Terry Pratchett (English fantasy writer, 1948-2015)

I write to *discover what I know.*pass the time.*annoy others.* Flannery O'Connor (American novelist, 1925-1964)

Writing is a socially acceptable form of *schizophrenia.*lying.*bragging.* E.L. Doctorow (American novelist, 1931-2015)

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Ernest Hemingway (American novelist, 1899-1961)

"The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with." Marty Feldman (British actor and comedian, 1933-83)

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Douglas Adams (English science fiction writer, 1952-2001)

"You can make *anything*history*cakes* by writing." C.S. Lewis (British writer, 1898-1963)

"Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." Douglas Adams (English science fiction writer, 1952-2001)

"The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes." Agatha Christie (English writer of detective fiction, 1890-1976)

"Writing is easy. All you have to do is stare at a blank piece of paper until drops of *blood*sweat*ink* form on your forehead." Gene Fowler (American writer, 1890-1960)

"A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." Thomas Mann (German novelist, 1875-1955)

"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done." Steven Wright (American comedian, 1955-)

"A writer's life is divided into two parts: prepublication and post-publication poverty." Earl Wilson (American journalist, 1907-87)

"Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money." Jules Renard (French novelist and dramatist, 1864-1910)

"A writer is someone who has taught their *mind*dog*wife* to misbehave." Oscar Wilde (Irish dramatist and poet, 1854-1900)

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Jack London (American novelist, 1876-1916)

"Writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." Mary Heaton Vorse (American journalist and novelist, 1874-1966)

"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe." Gustave Flaubert (French novelist, 1821-80)

"He's always backing into the limelight." Lord Berners (English composer, artist, and writer, 1883-1950) talking about T. E. Lawrence

"In general I do not draw well with literary men – not that I dislike them but – I never know what to say to them after I have praised their last publication." Lord Byron (English poet, 1788-1824)

"If you give him *meat,*time,*somewhere to live,* no woman in London will be safe." Mrs Patrick Campbell (English actress, 1865-1940) talking about the vegetarian George Bernard Shaw

Oh, Jack Kerouac, that isn't writing, it's *typing.*poetry.*nonsense.* Truman Capote (American writer, 1924-84)

"In America only the successful writer is important, in France all writers are important, in England no writer is important, and in Australia you have to explain what a writer is." Geoffrey Cotterell (English writer, 1919-2010)

"An author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother who talks about her own children." Benjamin Disraeli (British Tory statesman and novelist, 1804-81)

It is splendid to be a great writer, to put men into the frying pan of your words and make them pop like *chestnuts.*popcorn.*balloons.* Gustave Flaubert (French novelist, 1821-80)

"I am the kind of writer that people think other people are reading." V. S. Naipaul (Trinidadian author, 1932-)

"The shelf life of the modern hardback writer is somewhere between the milk and the yoghurt." Calvin Trillin (American journalist and writer, 1935-)

"What other culture could have produced someone like Hemingway and not seen the joke?" Gore Vidal (American novelist and critic, 1925-2012)

Mr. Henry James writes fiction as if it were *a painful duty.*a real joy.*the news.* Oscar Wilde (Irish dramatist and poet, 1854-1900)

"I know no person so perfectly disagreeable and even dangerous as an author." William IV (British king, 1765-1837)