Books Quotes - Page 6

When I am dead, I hope it may be said, 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.

Words and a book and a belief that the world is words...

Military people never seem to apologize for killing each other yet novelists feel ashamed for writing some nice inert paper book that is not certain to be read by anybody.

a true piece of writing is a dangerous thing. It can change your life.

Who is better off? The one who writes to revel in the voluptuousness of the life that surrounds them? Or the one who writes to escape the tediousness of that which awaits them outside? Whose flame will last longer?

The most important things in our intimate lives can't be discussed with strangers, except in books.

Writers seldom choose as friends those self-centered characters who are never in trouble, never make mistakes, and always count their change as it is handed to them.

If a book is well written, I always find it too short.

In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished by how few people - people who supposedly want to write - read books, and if they read them, how little they examine them.

You write your books. You scatter your seeds. Rats might eat them, or they might rot. In California, some seeds lie dormant for decades because they only germinate after fire, and sometimes the burned landscape blooms most lavishly.

A book, a true book, is the writer's confessional. For, whether he would have it so or not, he is betrayed, directly or indirectly, by his characters, into presenting publicly his innermost feelings.

The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.

Ending a series is a difficult one .......where should a story that you have followed for so long end? When do you step away from the characters and let the readers decide their fate from there? When they can stand on their own is my only answer for that.

...stories want to be told. Stories have a power of their own ... you can't write a story until you've felt it. Breathed it in. Walked with your characters. Talked with them.

Be passionate about what you write, believe in your ability to convey timeless ideas, and let no one tell you what what you're capable of.

Sometimes the things in our heads are far worse than anything they could put in books or on film!!

A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities. Set down one word, however, and it immediately becomes earthbound. Set down one sentence and it’s halfway to being just like every other bloody book that’s ever been written.

Writers Are Insane. For months we are lone wolves locked in our caves. Then overnight we become publicity hounds. It's a schizophrenic business.

Make no mistake, those who write long books have nothing to say.
Of course those who write short books have even less to say.

I'm not trying to please anyone. I'm just trying to write a damn book.