Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph. Until you get to page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety - it's the job.

Roddy Doyle

Categorized in : Jobs Writing Space

If there is a heaven, Jane Austen is sitting in a small room with Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, listening to Duran Duran, forever. If there's a hell, she's standing.

small-rooms princess mother

Some of the people who look the most normal are probably the madd... by Roddy Doyle

Some of the people who look the most normal are probably the maddest people trying to look normal.

trying people looks

I see people in terms of dialogue and I believe that people are t... by Roddy Doyle

I see people in terms of dialogue and I believe that people are their talk.

term believe people

It's a big con job. We have sold the myth of Dublin as a sexy place incredibly well; because it is a dreary little dump most of the time.

dublin sexy jobs

No matter how close to personal experience a story might be, inevitably you are going to get to a part that isn't yours and, actually, whether it happened or not becomes irrelevant. It is all about choosing the right words.

matter stories might

She'd tried her hand at most things, but drew the line at honesty... by Roddy Doyle

She'd tried her hand at most things, but drew the line at honesty.

lines honesty hands

When I'm writing I just think there's only the page and me and no... by Roddy Doyle

When I'm writing I just think there's only the page and me and nobody else.

pages writing thinking

You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top 10 books ever written but I doubt that any of those people were really moved by it.

doubt book people

Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. by Roddy Doyle

Good ideas are often murdered by better ones.

good-ideas ideas

The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your ba... by Roddy Doyle

The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.

being-irish burden problem

If you are a writer you're at home, which means you're out of touch. You have to make excuses to get out there and look at how the world is changing.

home mean looks

To claim that music is more important than oxygen would be trite and sentimental. It would also be true.

oxygen important would-be

It's great meeting children because you never know what they will... by Roddy Doyle

It's great meeting children because you never know what they will say.

meetings knows children

Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's part of any endea... by Roddy Doyle

Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's part of any endeavour, not just writing.

endeavour writing school

She's a pot-of-tea-before-I-say-boo-to-you woman. There's always a pile of warm teabags in the sink when I come down, like what a horse would leave behind.

horse tea pot

If you're from Dublin, for example, chances are you live with your family, if you're lucky enough to, right up to the mid-20s. And most of the people I know, when they finally sort of set off on their own, they don't stray all that far.

lucky example people

The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads. by Roddy Doyle

The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads.

lad europe

When I was a kid, if you didn't speak Irish, you really wanted to. And you played Gaelic games and you didn't pay any attention to what was happening in the outside world, because really, the - Ireland was the center of the universe. And I don't think that's the case anymore, although, admittedly, it is the center of the universe.

games kids thinking

I'm not recognised that much. I'm just a bald man in glasses and there's a rash of them in Dublin. It'd be different if I had a mohican.

glasses different men

I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated.

stories writing ideas