Reading a book is an experience unlike any other. It doesn’t matter the genre of the book or how old it is. All stories have this wonderful ability to transport the reader to a new place and meet new characters. When I was younger, I wrote my own stories. They were all a bit amateur and underdeveloped, but I found so much joy in thinking of ideas and writing them down. Now, I’m able to appreciate the art behind writing better and what it takes to be a good writer. Here are some quotes from writers about their experiences.
Writers on Writing…
In order to write the book you want to write, in the end you have to become the person you need to become to write that book.”
Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?”
Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Whenever I’m asked what advice I have for young writers, I always say that the first thing is to read, and to read a lot. The second thing is to write. And the third thing, which I think is absolutely vital, is to tell stories and listen closely to the stories you’re being told.”
John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
The quality of their literary voice is the crucial part of the writer’s legitimacy, and their authenticity cannot come from mimicking other writers’ style.”
Kilroy J. Oldster, author of Dead Toad Scrolls
… and Being a Writer
A great novel, rather than discouraging me, simply makes me want to write.”
Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time
I write because there are things in me that cannot die.”
Sanober Khan, author of Turquoise Silence
We writers constantly try to build up our own confidence by getting published, making sales, winning prizes, joining cliques or proclaiming theories. The passion to write constantly strips this vanity aside and forces us to confront that loneliness and the uncertainty with which human beings, in the end, live or die.”
Boria Sax, author of Enchanted Forests: The Poetic Construction of a World Before Time
The power of a writer is that he is a god of sorts. He can create his own worlds and populate them with his own people, all by the powers of his imagination. It’s the closest a man can come close to the gods. No wonder the most successful writers are considered immortal.”
Bangambiki Habyarimana, author of The Book of Wisdom
Books connect us through stories of love, trials, and growth. This connection can save lives. It did for me.”
Angela Greenman, author of The Child Riddler
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