John Ashbery
Author: cwq
“Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.”
Norman Mailer
“I think it’s very true when you’re a writer you sometimes have to spend time poking at part of yourself that normal, sane people leave alone.”
Vikram Chandra
“I like painting myself in corners and seeing if I can get out.”
Tom Robbins (on why he won’t re-write a page once it’s written)
“Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.”
“A poem is never finished, only abandoned.”
Paul Valery
“I believe that if you are serious about a life of writing … that you should take on this work like a holy calling. […] As for discipline — it’s important, but sort of overrated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. […] Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness.”
Elizabeth Gilbert