The fact is, for all the critics' talk about me as a realist, I'm making everything up - everything. It is all about imagining with me. Richard Bausch More Quotes by Richard Bausch More Quotes From Richard Bausch I don't teach writing. I teach patience. Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach the life. The odd thing is most of the things that stop an inexperienced writer are so far from the truth as to be nearly beside the point. When you feel glosbal doubt about your talent, that is your talent. People who have no talent don't have any doubt. Richard Bausch doubt writing people A good story needs only a good storyteller. Richard Bausch storyteller stories needs Mostly you write to find out what you have to say. Richard Bausch writing To my mind, nothing is as important as good writing, because in literature, the walls between people and cultures are broken down, and the things that plague us most—suspicion and fear of the other, and the tendency to see whole groups of people as objects, as monoliths of one cultural stereotype or another—are defeated. This work is not done as a job, ladies and gentlemen, it is done out of love for the art and the artists who brought it forth, and who still bring it forth to us, down the years and across ignorance and chaos and borderlines. Richard Bausch wall jobs art When you reach a place where you feel blocked, lower your standards and keep on going. There is no possible way to do permanent damage to a piece of writing. You cannot ruin it. You can only make it a little better a little at a time. Richard Bausch pieces writing littles Read the writers whose work is still around and has survived the winds of fashion and the attacks of the ignorant and the bigoted - read everything you can get your hands on. Richard Bausch you fashion work hands In every circumstance, all my life, my mind shows me the possible bad outcome: someone walks down steps, and before I can do anything to head the image off, I see a fall, a catastrophe. Richard Bausch my-life me mind life Write a little bit every day, each day. Visit it, every day - in other words, show up for work. Richard Bausch every-day words day work Every really good book was written a little at a time, over time, in tremendous confusion and doubt. Richard Bausch good doubt time book Keep everything in context, and try to have each line doing more than one thing - not just giving exposition but also revealing character and history, etc. Richard Bausch doing giving character history I don't read reviews. Richard Bausch read reviews I always write stories, and I write poems, too. I just never sell them to anybody, but I write them. They're good, too. They never leave the house. They're too disclosing. Richard Bausch leave never good house Once, I thought I had a novel, and it turned out it was only a short story. I wrote about 800 pages, but it ended up being a short story. And if it ever happens to me again, I Will Go Insane. Richard Bausch short story thought me I love teaching. If I made a trillion dollars, I would still teach. It's different every day. You get to meet intelligent people all the time - or at least most of the time. Richard Bausch day you time love