Quotes by Writing I don't really read as much as I used to. A lot of what I was looking for as an escape I find in writing. And the other thing is that I don't want to get into someone else's language when I'm working Alice Hoffman languagewantwriting After a while, the characters I'm writing begin to feel real to me. That's when I know I'm heading in the right direction Alice Hoffman realwritingcharacter I feel more influenced in my own work by dreams than I do by other writers' works in a way. Or by popular culture, movies - what else is there to write about than love and loss? Alice Hoffman halloweendreamwriting I think that if I get into the habit of writing a bit about what happens, or rather doesn't happen, I may lose a little of the sense of isolation and desolation which abides with me. My circumstances allowing of nothing but the ejaculation of one-syllabled reflections, a written monologue by that most interesting being, myself, may have its yet to be discovered consolations. Alice James reflectionwritingthinking 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. Alice Mattison scaryviewswriting When an editor first explained to me the difference between direct and indirect writing, I just thought it was a stylistic choice. Alice Mattison editorsdifferenceswriting I don't have the courage not to write all the time. Alice Mattison writing It's hard to say which of us is luckier, the ones who go through long periods when they can't write or the ones who can write pretty easily. Alice Mattison periodswritinglong We still have so many cultures in which people are imprisoned and whipped and killed for writing what they think. Alice Mattison writingpeoplethinking I think people feel for a long time that they ought to know how to write a novel in two drafts. Alice Mattison writingtwothinking Whoever would write books? It's suffering as well as greatly satisfying. And certainly there's suffering in the sense that you don't know for a long time how to do it. Alice Mattison writinglongbook I think you have to remember that writing is hard; my first editor used to say that to me. Alice Mattison editorswritingthinking There are so many different ways, most of them helpful and legal, to get yourself into a state of mind where writing is possible. It's going to be different for each person. Alice Mattison differentmindwriting I just like doing it, I like writing. Alice Mattison writing You may be somebody who writes best for a small press that doesn't pay very well, but you might have a fascinating and intricate style that might not appeal to as many readers but will be incredibly meaningful to the readers you have. Truly, that's as wonderful if not more wonderful. Alice Mattison stylewritingmeaningful We have to diversify, we have to find work we can do that helps other people while helping ourselves, work that has to do with writing that isn't necessarily just writing saleable novels or getting huge advances. Alice Mattison helping-otherswritingpeople There's the belief that we can't be smart enough to write. And certainly censorship of women, too. Alice Mattison smartbeliefwriting You have to write fiction that mirrors the actual world, which has people of all sorts in it. Alice Mattison mirrorswritingpeople I heard a white writer say, 'Oh, I'd never put black people in my writing, I'm afraid I would offend someone by doing it wrong.' I can't bear that! Alice Mattison whitewritingpeople Sometimes people want to know how to write a story from the point of view of a murderer and make her sympathetic. I think the answer is that you start by having her look for her car keys, because everybody knows what it's like. Alice Mattison keyswritingthinking«3637383940414243444546»
