“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.” Octavia E. Butler
"Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties.” John Irving
Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. Annie Dillard
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you … never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. --Harriet Beecher Stowe
"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." John Steinbeck
Writing is like bricklaying; you put down one word after another. Sometimes the wall goes up straight and true and sometimes it doesn't and you have to push it down and start again, but you don't stop; it's your trade. Geraldine Brooks
"If you can start and finish a book, then you're already a million miles ahead of all those people who talk about wanting to write a book." Lisa Jewell
