You are not the next Stephen King. You are not the next Emma Bull. You are not the next anyone. You are the very first you. - Seanan McGuire

It’s like a piece of music; you never lose sight of the theme. Each scene pushes off to the next like music builds and you can almost hear the next chord progression, so it has a strict structure, which is very compelling. - David Strathairn

The hardest thing about writing a novel is getting it published. - Marianne Cushing

Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of the hill. You must have all your skills under control from the first instant. - Marion Dane Bauer

Writing for adults often means just increasing the swearing - but find an alternative to swearing and you’ve probably got a better line. - Steven MoffatI am the master of all the words, and F*** is the best one. - Tumblr user headspace-hotel

Sometimes, the smaller roles in movies can be the most interesting. If you only take the stance that you'll only play central characters in movies, you’ll find yourself not being able to indulge in that morally gray terrain that makes support characters so rich and interesting. - Joel Edgerton

A fight scene cannot be in your work simply because it is awesome. Hot dogs are awesome too. But not if what you are making is a hot fudge sundae. - Carla Hoch

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original. Whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence about how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. - CS Lewis

Good description is a learned skill, one of those primary reasons you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It’s not just a question of how-to, you see; it’s also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing. - Stephen King

A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph, a novel is a film. - Lorrie Moore