Quotes about Writing Fiction

You learn a lot, writing fiction. Votes: 4

I like going back and writing fiction. Votes: 4

So much emotion goes into writing fiction. Votes: 4

Fact-checking is so boring compared to writing fiction. Votes: 4

I was writing fiction, but not finishing fiction. Votes: 4

I instantly chucked my academic ambitions and began writing fiction full-time. Votes: 4

When I'm writing about reality, I'm writing about death. When I'm writing fiction, I'm writing about life. Votes: 4

Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea. Votes: 4

I spend my life writing fiction, so reading fiction isn't much of an escape. That's not always true, but I don't read much contemporary fiction. Votes: 4

So much emotion goes into writing fiction. Votes: 3

...writing fiction...is no job for intellectual cowards. Votes: 3

I don't think writing fiction has changed my worldview. Votes: 3

I enjoy writing fiction more than writing anything else. Wouldn't anyone? Votes: 3

I didn't lie, I was writing fiction with my mouth." Homer Simpson Votes: 3

When I started writing fiction, I knew how good it was immediately. Votes: 3

writing fiction is the best thing there is because absolutely everything is possible! Votes: 3

It's much harder when you're writing about your life, than when you're writing fiction. Votes: 3

You write fiction, you're writing memoir, and when you're writing memoir, you're writing fiction. Votes: 3

I began writing fictional stories and little screenplays when I was in fifth grade. Votes: 3

The good thing about writing fiction is that you can get back at people. Votes: 3

I began writing fiction when I started running out of material in my own life. Votes: 3

There's a satisfaction I get from writing fiction that I will never get from screenwriting. Votes: 3

I was uncomfortable writing fiction. My love was the personal essay, rather than the novel. Votes: 3

I had been writing fiction since I was in eighth grade, because I loved it. Votes: 3

The trouble with writing fiction is that it has to make sense, whereas real life doesn't. Votes: 3

Expressing political opinion can be a powerful way to establish a character's voice when writing fiction. Votes: 3

When you are writing fiction your task is to reflect the fullest complications of the world Votes: 3

One of the amazing things about writing fiction is that you do get to be other people. Votes: 3

I always say that writing non-fiction versus writing fiction is a bit like architecture versus abstract painting. Votes: 3

My greatest qualification for writing fiction was my ability, as a child, to lie with a straight face. Votes: 3

My greatest qualification for writing fiction was my ability to lie with a straight face as a child. Votes: 3

I love stories, but writing fiction is another craft and I don't feel as if I have it. Votes: 3

In writing fiction, I can be free. I can use my life. The raw material is my experiences. Votes: 3

I love writing fiction - you can take just what you want from a place, and leave the rest. Votes: 3

The triumph of writing fiction is that by doing so, writers can build a more ideal world in themselves. Votes: 3

The art of writing fiction is to sail as dangerously close to the truth as possible without sinking the ship Votes: 3

I sometimes get asked if I think about film stuff while I'm writing fiction, and the answer is, of course not. Votes: 3

Whether it is done quickly or slowly, however splendid the results, the process of writing fiction is inherently, inevitably, indistinguishable from wasting time. Votes: 3

I was writing fiction steadily, but I found that the stark determinisms of code were a welcome relief from the ambiguities of literary narrative. Votes: 3

I first started writing fiction in college because I was attracted to beautiful sentences. I loved to read them. I wanted to write them. Votes: 3

One learns much more by writing fiction, because the insights come from those deeper subconscious levels where the greater and more interesting truths lie. Votes: 3

I have to have music as a soundtrack to writing fiction. I listen to it at other times, too, but it helps me write. Votes: 3

I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing. Votes: 3

I was an outsider, never quite part of what was going on, always looking in. It turned out to be great preparation for writing fiction. Votes: 3

I tried writing fiction as a little kid, but had a teacher humiliate me, so didn't write again until I was a senior in college. Votes: 3

I think one of the paradoxes of writing fiction is when people enjoy it, they want it to be real. So they look for connections. Votes: 3

It's not that I'm apolitical... In my youth, I was a freelance political speechwriter, which taught me a lot about writing fiction, I must add. Votes: 3

If you haven't cried at least once while writing a chapter of your inspirational book, then you have to ask yourself if your're writing fiction. Votes: 3

When you're writing fiction, you don't have notes necessarily. You don't carve it, it's not like a piece of sculpture, it's more like water color. Votes: 3

Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people. Votes: 3

I would, however, start writing fiction about 10 years before I actually did, because it's such great fun to do, many times more creative than nonfiction. Votes: 3

To me, stretching the capabilities of my imagination is a crucial aspect of writing fiction; you could think of it as a mental form of athleticism. Votes: 3

After writing fiction for so long, I like the discovery element of nonfiction, in the sense that when you find the right information, it feels like gold. Votes: 3

I think I view myself primarily as a fiction writer. Poetry is more of a "hobby," a time of rest from the hard work of writing fiction. Votes: 3

When I'm writing fiction, I'm sort of interested by the fact that somehow or other I can have the feeling of actually seeing things through someone else's eyes. Votes: 3

Yeah, I know what your English Professor tried to tell you. But if your English Professor could make a living writing fiction, they would have been doing it. Votes: 3

I have always known that writing fiction had little effect on the world; that if it did, young men would not have gone to war after The Iliad. Votes: 3

Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, I've never had the sense I was 'making up' a character. It feels more like watching people reveal themselves, ever more deeply, more intimately. Votes: 3

When I started writing fiction it always seemed in retrospect (I didn't realise at the time) that it was always caused by environments rather than by incidents and characters. Votes: 3

Our minds simply don't function in some sort of narrative chronology. I think that one of the great gifts of writing fiction is being able to think about that. Votes: 3

You can't be wrong in journalism. Take a wrong turn in journalism, and you are writing fiction. You can take a wrong turn in poetry, and something wonderful can happen. Votes: 3

I love the secrecy of writing fiction. When I write a novel, I don't tell anybody what I'm doing. I'm living in my private world. And it's a great sensation. Votes: 3

Speech recognition is utterly crap for writing fiction. If you try reading a novel aloud you'll soon figure out why - written prose style is utterly unlike the spoken word. Votes: 3

When I am writing fiction, I believe I am much better organized, more methodical - one has to be when writing a novel. Writing poetry is a state of free float. Votes: 3

With writing fiction, I'm either not courageous enough or just not suited for telling truths in a more conventional way. As an actor, I inhabit those characters as I'm writing them. Votes: 3

When writing fiction, you learn to only put things and characters in, that are going to progress your story. There is something to be learned about that approach in real life Votes: 3

The pleasure of writing fiction is that you are always spotting some new approach, an alternative way of telling a story and manipulating characters; the novel is such a wonderfully flexible form. Votes: 3

Even when it comes to writing fiction, how do you encompass all this stuff that's right on the tip of your tongue? You have to fold that into what you're working on. Votes: 3

I like to do the research of history and the creativity of writing fiction. I am creating this thing which I think is twice as difficult as writing either history or fiction. Votes: 3

My personality has two sides: a very social side and a reclusive side. I love writing fiction, although I can't imagine ever being locked up in a room writing all the time. Votes: 3

I think if I had been writing fiction, where the work is entirely dependent on the writer's creativity and the potential directions the narrative might take are infinite, I might have frozen Votes: 3

I think if I had been writing fiction, where the work is entirely dependent on the writer's creativity and the potential directions the narrative might take are infinite, I might have frozen. Votes: 3

When you're writing fiction or poetry... it really comes down to this: indifference to everything except what you're doing... A young writer could do worse than follow the advice given in those lines. Votes: 3

I'm not very popular, because they're bleak and they're mournful and all the rest of it and I get censorious reviews. But I'm only writing fiction. I'm not making munitions, so I think it's acceptable. Votes: 3

Tweeting about objects means I don't need to bid on them, which is a blessing. Buying something is a way of saying, 'Look at this!' So is tweeting. So, I guess, is writing fiction. Votes: 3

[Jack] Kerouac was writing fiction. What he did when he wrote about me...he made me out with Russian Countesses and Swiss accounts and other things I didn't have or didn't happen and so on. Votes: 3

Well, it's my voice, so it's more accessible that way, and there are also all sorts of things like plot and timelines that are already known entities, so for me, it's very different from writing fiction. Votes: 3

Every time I've had to do journalistic investigations, I've cursed, but later I discovered that it had helped me enormously with writing fiction. It's the one thing that can save me from becoming an academic writer. Votes: 3

I always say writing fiction isn't something you teach. It's something you do, and only experimentation - i.e. doing it, either badly or good sometimes - can help anybody get any better or worse at it. Votes: 3

Listen to what you have written. A dud rhythm in a passage of dialogue may show that you don't yet understand the characters well enough to write in their voices."[Ten rules for writing fiction (The Guardian, 20 February 2010)] Votes: 3

When you're writing fiction it's a heightened voice. You're trying to cast a spell, which isn't the same thing as trying to cast someone into it. You are creating a reality but it's a different sort of performance. Votes: 3

When I'm not writing, I can't make sense of out anything. I feel the need to make some sense and find some order, and writing fiction is the only way I've found that seems to begin to do that. Votes: 3

I wrote six nonfiction books before getting into narrative fiction with 'Robopocalypse,' including 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising.' My goal all along was to start writing fiction, and I guess one day I'd just had enough. Votes: 3

As long as you have ideas, you can keep going. That's why writing fiction is so much fun: because you're moving people about, and making settings for them to move in, so there's always something there to keep working on. Votes: 3

Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a few years feeling miserably 'behind' my high-achieving friends. But I persevered and obviously have no regrets. Votes: 3

I published only in academic journals in philosophy until I was in my 40s, but I had been writing fiction and poetry my whole adult life - without ever once trying to publish it, and rarely letting anyone read it. Votes: 3

I think that when you're writing fiction what you're doing is reflecting life as you see it, and putting down how you think and how other people think, and the sort of confusions that you don't normally like to admit to. Votes: 3

I've devoted a lot of my time and effort during the past few years to developing my advertising copywriting business to the point of where I can support my family and don't have to depend on writing fiction for my income. Votes: 3

Increasingly, those who used to teach and write critical or theoretical texts are writing fiction, poetry and so on; and kinds of texts are being produced that call for budding readers rather different from those who studied literature in the past. Votes: 3

Characters more or less present themselves to me. I don't know their origins. I think if I did, if I seemed to myself to fabricate them, I could not induce suspension of disbelief in myself in the way writing fiction requires. Votes: 3

It gives me confidence to know that what I'm writing has a veracity of its own without me having to invent it. When I'm writing fiction, I must believe it to be true, or I can see no point in it. Votes: 3

I'm always in the kitchen, cooking and experimenting - I love it. And every now and then I think, 'I should write a cookbook' or, 'I should write for food magazines.' And then I get drawn back to writing fiction again. Votes: 3

Even when I think of writing fiction, it's being kind of a liar, a storyteller, a weaver, and there's that sense of how much of this is your life. The story is a way you unravel your life from behind a mask. Votes: 3

Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.[Ten rules for writing fiction, The Guardian, 20 February 2010 (with Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Helen Dunmore, Geoff Dyer, Anne Enright, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, Esther Freud, Neil Gaiman, David Hare, and AL Kennedy)] Votes: 3

We have to learn not to feel guilty about letting our imagination browse around, and you know, in writing fiction particularly. But I think, in any kind of writing, we have to learn to allow ourselves to approach it in a contemplative way. Votes: 3

I find it only natural for a storyteller to be interested in storytelling and, for anyone who spends the better part of his or her life writing fiction, it is hardly surprising that the pleasures, worries, and mechanics of fiction-making should enter the work. Votes: 3

I've been writing fiction probably since I was about 6 years old, so it's something that is second nature to me now. I just sit down and start writing. I don't sit down and start writing and it comes out perfectly - it's a process. Votes: 3

Geisha because when I was living in Japan, I met a fellow whose mother was a geisha, and I thought that was kind of fascinating and ended up reading about the subject just about the same time I was getting interested in writing fiction. Votes: 3

Rules such as "Write what you know," and "Show, don't tell," while doubtlessly grounded in good sense, can be ignored with impunity by any novelist nimble enough to get away with it. There is, in fact, only one rule in writing fiction: Whatever works, works. Votes: 3

I think the thing that I lost in myself when I stopped writing fiction and the thing that I rediscovered and started mining again is, for lack of a better word, magic. It's the way you can brush up against the inexplicable and the mystical. Votes: 3

Even though I always claimed that I didn't want to write about something - once I wasn't writing fiction, anyway; I think for me the change from fiction to poetry was that in fiction I was writing about something, in poetry I was writing something. Votes: 3

When I'm writing fiction I'm thinking, God, this is so hard - I have to make all this stuff up! I wish I were writing a nonfiction book where all the facts are laid out and I don't have to be so much at sea. Votes: 3

Once I got started, I wanted the life of a writer so fiercely that nothing could stop me. I wanted the intensity, the sense of aliveness that came from writing fiction. I'm still that way. My life is worth living when I've completed a good paragraph. Votes: 3

Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system. Votes: 3

When I am writing political op-eds, I do think carefully about the impact of my words. When I am writing fiction, it's a different story. In my fiction I am more reckless. I don't care about the real world until I am done with the book. Votes: 3

I love being a mom. But there's a certain kind of tedium to your life when your kid is young. Writing allows you to wander when your kid is napping in a crib ten feet away. So that's the great joy of writing fiction for me. Votes: 3

There's something peculiar about writing fiction. It requires an interesting balance between seeing the world as a child and having the wisdom of a middle-aged person. The further you get from childhood and the experience of the teenage years, the greater the danger of losing that wellspring. Votes: 3

Everyone else thinks I'm a nonfiction writer. I think it's because my nonfiction is easier to find. But I write both in equal measure. I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself, and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing. Votes: 3

I have turned away from the thought of writing fiction in the past through what I suppose is, actually, fear. The direct, raw invitation for the reader to come in and explore my imagination is fairly scary for me so I have busied myself with so much else. Votes: 3

It is popular to believe that in order to see clearly one must believe nothing. This may work well enough if you are observing cells under a microscope. It will not work if you are writing fiction. For the fiction writer, to believe nothing is to see nothing. Votes: 3

In science there is a dictum: don't add an experiment to an experiment. Don't make things unnecessarily complicated. In writing fiction, the more fantastic the tale, the plainer the prose should be. Don't ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story. Votes: 3

Returning to writing fiction after years away from it. Returning to the rootstock of my whole life as a writer. It's what I had wanted to be for my entire life, since I can remember, since my particular time immemorial. It's how I got my start as a writer. Votes: 3

The worst part of writing fiction is the fear of wasting your life behind a keyboard. The idea that, dying, you'll realize you only lived on paper. Your only adventures were make-believe, and while the world fought and kissed, you sat in some dark room masturbating and making money. Votes: 3

Mr. Franzen said he and Mr. Wallace, over years of letters and conversations about the ethical role of the novelist, had come to the joint conclusion that the purpose of writing fiction was "a way out of loneliness." (NY Times article on the memorial service of David Foster Wallace.) Votes: 3

I like rules. I like definitions, categories, and writing advice of all sorts. When I'm writing fiction, there are often a lot of things for me to try to get right at once, and rules help me to stay organized. But my favorite rule of all is that, ultimately, there are no rules. Votes: 3

The hardest part about writing fiction is finding long stretches of time to do it: for me, this means writing mostly on Saturdays and Sundays. But I am always thinking about my characters, jotting down ideas in stolen moments and hoping I'll be able to make sense of them when the weekend rolls around. Votes: 3

Everyone who sits on a sofa watching 'Match of the Day' is a top soccer expert, as you know. So if you start to worry about such people reading your story and saying, 'That'd never happen' you're going to freeze up. You're writing fiction, and your characters can do whatever you need them to do. Votes: 3

Seize the Story' takes readers all the way through the process of writing fiction, from beginning to end. Every element, from dialogue to setting, plotting to character creation, is laid out and illustrated with examples. But the tone of the book is not that of a dry writing manual - it's definitely written for teenagers. Votes: 3

The key of writing fiction isn't just to remove something that the reader or listener can easily imagine. It's not a matter of being coy, or withholding information. It's allowing for multiple possibilities, recognizing the complexity of human behavior, and making the world of a piece of fiction as marvelously confounding as the world we live in. Votes: 3

I was writing fiction in my 20s but in a pretty undisciplined way - late at night, maybe, after I'd peeled myself from the walls of a nightclub and crawled home along the gutters. But I slowly became more serious and more devout in my work, and I fell seriously in love with the short story form. Votes: 3

Don't look back until you've written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the preceding day. This prevents those cringing feelings, and means that you have a substantial body of work before you get down to the real work which is all in ... the edit.[Ten rules for writing fiction (part two), The Guardian, 20 February 2010] Votes: 3

What I felt was, if you spend your life just writing fiction, you are going to falsify your material. And the fictional form was going to force you to do things with the material, to dramatize it in a certain way. I thought nonfiction gave one a chance to explore the world, the other world, the world that one didn't know fully. Votes: 3

When everything does seem out of control, writing fiction is a way I can order that chaos and restore some sort of meaning. I like the playful aspect of writing fiction. You know how it is when we are kids and we make up our worlds: You be this guy, and I am going to be this guy, and we are going to go slay dragons. Votes: 3

Burroughs called his greatest novel 'Naked Lunch,' by which he meant it's what you see on the end of a fork. Telling the truth. It's very difficult to do that in fiction because the whole process of writing fiction is a process of sidestepping the truth. I think he got very close to it, in his way, and I hope I've done the same in mine. Votes: 3

I like writing historical fiction. Votes: 2

I think it's Jerry's masterful fiction writing. Votes: 2

Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything. Votes: 2

Then I discovered I loved writing poetry more than fiction. Votes: 2

I never really saw myself as writing science fiction anyway. Votes: 2

I started out writing much more science fictiony stuff and writing about science fiction. Votes: 2

I began reading science fiction before I was 12 and started writing science fiction around the same time. Votes: 2

First of all, writing at best - certainly fiction writing - more and more I think is magic. Votes: 2

I like the physical action of writing down by hand, and I don't just use it for writing my fiction. Votes: 2

I'm not writing great literature. I'm writing commercial fiction for people to enjoy the stories and to like the characters. Votes: 2

Writing is writing, and stories are stories. Perhaps the only true genres are fiction and non-fiction. And even there, who can be sure? Votes: 2

Writing fiction is fundamentally an irrational act. Votes: 0

Fiction writing feels more honest to me. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is like remembering what never happened. Votes: 0

In [writing] fiction, every sentence is its own reward. Votes: 0

Writing fiction, like reading fiction, is a practice in empathy. Votes: 0

Writing fiction, I really just sit there and it just comes. Votes: 0

Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world. Votes: 0

The desire to confess ... lies at the root of most fiction writing ... Votes: 0

Some of the best fiction writers got their start writing airline menus. Votes: 0

When you're writing your own fiction, you don't have to ride two horses. Votes: 0

Writing poetry helps me to write my fiction; each thing helps the other. Votes: 0

Never believe that the fiction writing life makes sense.... It's insanity by definition. Votes: 0

Dramatic fiction - William Shakespeare made his biggest mark writing dramatic love stories. Votes: 0

Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith. Votes: 0

For me, writing essays, prose and fiction is a great way to be self-indulgent. Votes: 0

We spent 10 years writing our first fiction story and truly hope people like it. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is a good way to inhabit other minds, if not other lives. Votes: 0

As with all other aspects of fiction, the key to writing good dialogue is honesty. Votes: 0

I find myself, by happy accident, writing 'Young Adult' fiction. However, I dislike such categories. Votes: 0

What's hard, in hacking as in fiction, is not writing, it's deciding what to write. Votes: 0

Every moment of a science fiction story must represent the triumph of writing over world-building. Votes: 0

It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction. Votes: 0

While writing a novel, I don't read anything new in fiction. I am too engrossed. Votes: 0

It's part of a cycle of stories I'm writing where I deconstruct classic science fiction. Votes: 0

I was really into writing short fiction and also photography when I was a kid. Votes: 0

Topiary has always seemed like a good occupation, comparable in some ways to writing short fiction. Votes: 0

I have to say that writing about my writing process is more daunting than writing non-fiction. Votes: 0

Writing and reading fiction is, I think, a human effort to make sense of the world. Votes: 0

I started writing short fiction very briefly, as I imagine is the case for some novelists. Votes: 0

My first and biggest love was always fiction writing. But it is a very lonely pastime. Votes: 0

It's very strange writing science fiction in a world that moves as fast as ours does. Votes: 0

You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth. Votes: 0

Nothing trains you better to write fiction than being really good at writing about your own interiority. Votes: 0

For me, writing historical fiction is all about finding a balance between reading, traveling, looking, imagining, and dreaming. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is... an endless and always defeated effort to capture some quality of life without killing it. Votes: 0

I taught English and history, so my education for that really helped prepare me for writing historical fiction. Votes: 0

Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses. Votes: 0

Writing is very castrating in the moment. Fiction in general, it has no function, nobody asks for it. Votes: 0

Writers of fiction should stick to writing, not pop up on panel shows or as a talking head. Votes: 0

Since childhood, I wrote a lot of fiction, a lot of stories, but I most loved writing essays. Votes: 0

I tend to read more nonfiction, really, because when I'm writing I don't like to read other fiction. Votes: 0

Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference. Votes: 0

It's not the word made flesh we want in writing, in poetry and fiction, but the flesh made word Votes: 0

I think that's what fiction writing is actually all about. It's about trying to solve problems in creative ways. Votes: 0

Perhaps this is the purpose of all art, all writing, on the murders, fiction and non-fiction: Simply to participate. Votes: 0

I was first introduced to Kafka's writing during my compulsory army-service basic training. During that period, Kafka's fiction felt hyperrealistic. Votes: 0

Non-fiction about personal subjects is going to attract more user comments than a foreign correspondent writing from Syria - unfortunately. Votes: 0

I think that it's more likely that in my 60s and 70s I will be writing poetry rather than fiction. Votes: 0

Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money. Votes: 0

Y'know, we're all wasting our time writing this hack science fiction! You wanta make real money, you gotta start a religion! Votes: 0

Local markets for literary fiction remain underdeveloped; the metropolis often holds out the only real possibility of a professional writing career. Votes: 0

Maybe the example of Southern fiction writing has been so powerful that Southern poets have sort of keyed themselves to that. Votes: 0

In TV writing, I felt like Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians. There's so much more freedom in fiction writing. Votes: 0

I wrote fiction during my entire childhood, from age 4 to 18, and started writing plays when I went to Yale and Oxford. Votes: 0

I read not for entertainment but to feel what the writer has felt while writing even though if it was fiction. Votes: 0

Writing is such a solitary thing, so its nice, when Im discouraged, to see people still have such faith in fiction. Votes: 0

I teach a non-fiction writing class at New York University, and one of my great pleasures is deciding on the syllabus. Votes: 0

Writing is such a solitary thing, so it's nice, when I'm discouraged, to see people still have such faith in fiction. Votes: 0

The beauty of literature - also its limit - is that it is inescapably personal, even if you're writing science fiction. Votes: 0

Writing fiction means putting a lot of what you believe about the world at risk, because you have to follow your characters. Votes: 0

I researched fiction writing for months before I taught my first class, much of it looking for strong techniques from bestselling authors. Votes: 0

The best way to tell people about climate change is through non-fiction. There's a vast literature of outstanding writing on the subject. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is a solitary occupation but not really a lonely one. The writer's head is mobbed with characters, images and language. Votes: 0

I use my fiction to explore my own unconscious issues. I usually don't even know what's going on with me until I'm writing. Votes: 0

I like writing non-fiction - and when you pick a [non-fiction] subject, it saves you the hassle of coming up with a plot. Votes: 0

Once you're imagining being the main character, and you're having the conversations and actually being there, the magic in fiction writing takes over. Votes: 0

Writing is writing, and stories are stories. Perhaps the only true genres are fiction and nonfiction. And even there, who can be sure? Votes: 0

Fiction is often most powerful when the author is exploring an issue - and not writing like a know-it-all who has the perfect answer. Votes: 0

It's a scary thing for fiction writers, when you're always writing from the point of view both as and for someone who is different. Votes: 0

I'm writing books. They're still a mix of fact and fiction and will continue to be. I think it's an interesting place to work. Votes: 0

A blend of fact and fiction has been used in various forms since the dawn of creative writing, starting with sagas and epic poems. Votes: 0

Thus, in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography, but I have to turn it into fiction in order to give it credibility. Votes: 0

Fiction writing is a strange business when you think about it. You sit down and weave a network of lies to explore deeper truths. Votes: 0

It was actually a women's writing group I belonged to in graduate school that gave me the courage to move from poetry to fiction. Votes: 0

My writing has always been what you call 'narrative fiction' in the sense that it's got very strong plots and twists at the end. Votes: 0

Writing fiction, there are no limits to what you write as long as it increases the value of the paper you are writing on. Votes: 0

[Science fiction is] out in the mainstream now. You can tell by the way mainstream literary authors pillage SF while denying they're writing it! Votes: 0

Fiction writing is an act of imagination, lived experience is secondary in many ways, writing a novel really is all about inventing worlds and people. Votes: 0

Historical fiction is actually good preparation for reading SF. Both the historical novelist and the science fiction writer are writing about worlds unlike our own. Votes: 0

I want to do some fiction writing, I've had some pretty good luck with short stories, I'd like to do a couple of larger things. Votes: 0

There was a price to be paid for being interested in fiction and in writing, pushing my family away. Books and authors became my family. Votes: 0

That's the wonderful thing about drama and writing and fiction: it's this wonderful shared experience that we all have. We can see into each other's lives. Votes: 0

Writing fiction is an act of imagination and fantasizing, and it's not relating in prose what you've been doing for the last two or three years. Votes: 0

It's hard to read good fiction when I am writing, because if it is really good I catch myself sort of inadvertently imitating a great writer. Votes: 0

I don't separate writing songs from poetry and short fiction. In the area where I work in my house, there's a word processor and a guitar. Votes: 0

I'm an ecumenical reader, grew up with all sorts of fiction, teach writing, went to the Iowa Writers' Workshop, so my tastes and interests are broad. Votes: 0

I think the deepest thing is that many fiction writers tell stories but are not elegant writers. But, we're not writing journalism when we're making literature. Votes: 0

For me, writing plays is far more an act of the mind than of the emotions. It's a very different kind of impulse than fiction writing. Votes: 0

Fiction writing, and the reading of it, and book buying, have always been the activities of a tiny minority of people, even in the most-literate societies. Votes: 0

I believe that, like most writers, my personality comes through in the fiction. So in that respect my writing can't be like any other author's really. Votes: 0

Fiction does not spring into the world fully grown, like Athena. It is the process of writing and rewriting that makes a fiction original, if not profound. Votes: 0

I'm still an old-school reporter at heart. Writing fiction satisfies my journalistic need to hear and relay the testimony of everyday people at the center of events. Votes: 0

This is a cliche, but in fiction, I feel it is easier for me to get to some sort of truth, some kind of more honest writing. Votes: 0

The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story.... Writing is seduction. Good talk is part of seduction. Votes: 0

Much to my surprise, there's a sense for people in the cable industry that fiction writers might actually be good at script writing. You can write dialogue! Votes: 0

I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil. Votes: 0

I honestly believe that everything I know about the writing of non-fiction (or writing) could be engraved on the head of a pin with a garden hoe ... Votes: 0

What I read: while I'm writing, I tend to go off reading fiction for relaxation - especially the challenging stuff. It's too much like the day job. Votes: 0

Experiments with the "as if" of fiction are often more lively in poetry and criticism and other modes of writing than in weak short stories or novels. Votes: 0

I resisted children's writing for a long time. I saw myself as a writer of literary fiction. But I had so much more fun writing kids' books. Votes: 0

My writing process is ritualized and monotonous, but there's no other way to get the job done. All other fiction writers I've met say the same thing. Votes: 0

In writing biography, fact and fiction shouldn't be mixed. And if they are, the fictional points should be printed in red ink, the facts printed in black ink. Votes: 0

Great fiction can often present moral messages with greater power and clarity than instructional writing - since literature, after all, penetrates not just the intellect, but the imagination. Votes: 0

In fiction writing, I would say there are several different strands that have been woven through my own writing, and each influenced by a different group of writers. Votes: 0

I'm not writing non-fiction. I don't feel anything about me as a kid was unique. Except that I had more interest in being alone and using my imagination. Votes: 0

What's good about writing is that when you write novels or fiction, people can see that the problems in one region are similar to problems in another region. Votes: 0

My writing of fiction comes under a very general heading of those teachers, critics, scholars who like to try their own hand once or twice in their lives. Votes: 0

I'm such a huge fan of fan fiction, to me it's a great way for readers to become writers. It's like putting the training wheels on for writing. Votes: 0

The writing you allude to is a form of dissent, but it's also expressive of the need to evolve beyond what is turgid and stale in contemporary fiction. Votes: 0

Fiction and screenwriting blend for me. I feel like being a TV writer/screenwriter has definitely made my fiction writing better, although I have less time to do it. Votes: 0

Writing fiction, especially a long work of fiction, can be a difficult, lonely job; it's like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub. There's plenty of opportunity for self-doubt. Votes: 0

A feeling for history is almost an essential for writing and appreciating good science fiction, for sensing the connections between the past and future that run through our present. Votes: 0

When I was in high school and college, my other real focus was, actually, fiction writing. So in college, I had done all these seminars with these various writers-in-residence. Votes: 0

I think I had actually served my apprenticeship as a writer of fiction by writing all those songs. I had already been through phases of autobiographical or experimental stuff. Votes: 0

I think fiction writers should work. If you have a job and are not living off advances or grants, you never have to make concessions in your writing, ever. Votes: 0

In terms of writing, I think what most fiction writers treasure more than anything is the feeling that they're living for the length of a book inside another person. Votes: 0

I have been tossing around the idea of writing some non-fiction. Maybe a collection of short stories about my experience being a mom and how not to be perfect. Votes: 0

I'm writing another novel and I know what I'm going to do after, which may be something more like this again, maybe some strange mixture of fiction and non-fiction. Votes: 0

I can't recommend technical writing as a day job for fiction writers because it's going to be hard to write all day and then come home and write fiction. Votes: 0

In writing non-fiction about people who are living, you are always walking a fine line, carrying a burden to be fair that, in my opinion, should always be there. Votes: 0

It would have been very easy to drift into writing a non-fiction book so by taking it away from Nottingham I forced myself to imagine much more of it. Votes: 0

I'm writing exactly the kinds of books I like to write. And they're the kinds of books I like to read. They're popular commercial fiction. That's what they are. Votes: 0

Writing fiction takes me out of time. I sit down and the clock will not exist for me for a few hours. That’s probably as close to immortal as we’ll ever get. Votes: 0

The best writing advice I ever got was "Keep moving forward, don't retreat into rewrites." The worst came from a book that said "Writing fiction is like telling lies," which just seems stupid to me. Votes: 0