I think of writers as explorers, not necessarily as detectives. So there is certainly detecting that is going on - they're explorers. Walter Mosley More Quotes by Walter Mosley More Quotes From Walter Mosley These short stories are vast structures existing mostly in the subconscious of our cultural history. They will live with the reader long after the words have been translated into ideas and dreams. That's because a good short story crosses the borders of our nations and our prejudices and our beliefs. A good short story asks a question that can't be answered in simple terms. And even if we come up with some understanding, years later, while glancing out of a window, the story still has the potential to return, to alter right there in our mind and change everything. Walter Mosley simple dream years A peasant that reads is a prince in waiting. Walter Mosley peasants waiting A man's bookcase will tell you everything you'll ever need to know about him Walter Mosley men book needs Every day that we wake up is a good day. Every breath that we take is filled with hope for a better day. Every word that we speak is a chance to change what is bad into something good. Walter Mosley good-day wake-up chance The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do everyday. There are two reasons for this rule: Getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind. Walter Mosley scary writing two Our collective freedom... depends on our ability to defend the rights of others. Walter Mosley ability freedom rights I took up writing to escape the drudgery of that every day cubicle kind of war. Walter Mosley cubicles writing war The process of writing a novel is like taking a journey by boat. You have to continually set yourself on course. If you get distracted or allow yourself to drift, you will never make it to the destination. It's not like highly defined train tracks or a highway; this is a path that you are creating discovering. The journey is your narrative. Keep to it and there will be a tale told. Walter Mosley creating journey writing The life most of us live are lives we are forced to live by immediate needs, influences, and pressures. Walter Mosley influence pressure needs That's how powerful you are, girl...You pretty, but pretty alone is not what people see. You the kinda pretty, the kinda beauty, that's like a mirror. Men and women see themselves in you, only now they so beautiful that they can't bear to see you go. Walter Mosley girl powerful beautiful Poetry teaches us music, metaphor, condensation and specificity. Walter Mosley condensation teach metaphor The biggest misconception that people have about the literary life is the romance of it. That a writer has this large world available to him or her of people, of ideas, of experiences, of interchange of ideas... Walter Mosley romance people ideas I don't ever know where I'm going. Because one of the wonderful things about writing, which is different than working in programming, you don't need to know. You could just write and discover where you're going. And it's a great deal of fun. Walter Mosley different writing fun I think that people don't know how to do anything anymore. My father was a janitor. He could take a car apart and put it back together. He could build a house in the back yard. Today, if you ask people what they know, they say, 'I know how to hire someone.' Walter Mosley father people thinking We are not trapped or locked up in these bones. No, no. We are free to change. And love changes us. And if we can love one another, we can break open the sky. Walter Mosley and-love change sky The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day - every morning or every night, whatever time it is that you have. Ideally, the time you decide on is also the time when you do your best work. Walter Mosley writing morning night There are as many kinds of love as there are flowers and bugs put together but men and women and their needs are all the same. Walter Mosley flower together men If you want to be a writer, you have to write every day... You don't go to a well once but daily. You don't skip a child's breakfast or forget to wake up in the morning. Walter Mosley writing morning children Better to listen to the gospel than to a mortal leader. Walter Mosley mortals leader Chirren [children] is the most dangerous creatures on the earth, with the exception of young girls between the ages of fifteen and forty-two. Walter Mosley girl two children