Read a lot. But read as a writer, to see how other writers are doing it. And make your knowledge of literature in English as deep and broad as you can. In workshops, writers are often told to read what is being written now, but if that is all you read, you are limiting yourself. You need to get a good overall sense of English literary history, so you can write out of that knowledge.
Theodora Goss
Related No one can teach writing, but classes may stimulate the urge to write. If you are born a writer, you... CYNTHIA OZICK If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as ... R. L. STINE Give yourself to reading.’... You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature,... CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON If you are going to write, say, fantasy - stop reading fantasy. You've already read too much. Re... TERRY PRATCHETT I think people want their illusions and writers are mostly illusion. When you read their words, you ... GORDON ATKINSON A public library is the most democratic thing in the world. What can be found there has undone dicta... DORIS LESSING My advice for aspiring writers is simply this: NEVER GIVE UP. Do not let anyone tell you that you ca... RACHEL NICOLE WAGNER No matter who you are, no matter where you live, and no matter how many people are chasing you, what... LEMONY SNICKET I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made ... RALPH WALDO EMERSON I knew I would read all kinds of books and try to get at what it is that makes good writers good. Bu... CARL SANDBURG For any writers at all, read everything you can and then put your butt in the chair and write. That&... CHARLAINE HARRIS The novel can be read simply as a story which you can skip if you want. It can be read as a story yo... MALCOLM LOWRY The best advice I can give on this is, once it's done, to put it away until you can read it with new... NEIL GAIMAN With each book, you get better as a writer. There is no back door to the industry. Read in the genre... MICHELLE MORAN You're a reader as well as a writer, so write what you'd want to read. CASSANDRA CLARE All you can be sure about in a political-minded writer is that if his work should last you will have... ERNEST HEMINGWAY To be able to influence Tanzanian literature and African literature, and sell our books in Tanzania ... ENOCK MAREGESI Sections in the bookstore - Books You Haven't Read - Books You Needn't Read - B... ITALO CALVINO Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your... ANGELA CARTER If you can't read, the only thing you can do is enjoy the pictures, not the whole story. Reading... MR. T I don't know that it is so much how someone else is going to read you, but more a matter of how you ... RICHARD BROOKS Everything that you read is an influence on everything you write, and you want to draw as many eleme... WALTER JON WILLIAMS The story goes as the line follow... alone... loony.... ... That's what's happening.... DEYTH BANGER If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not co... LILY TOMLIN Read everything! Don't just read things that are in your comfort zone or things that you think y... CASSANDRA CLARE A Ritual to Read to Each Other If you don’t know the kind of person I am and... WILLIAM STAFFORD In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Follo... ITALO CALVINO In a real sense, people who have read good literature have lived more than people who cannot or will... S. I. HAYAKAWA Read. As much as you can. As deeply and widely and nourishingly and irritatingly as you can. And t... A.L. KENNEDY Read good books. Read bad books - and figure out why you don't like them. Then don't do it w... PATRICIA BRIGGS Whatever your field of interest is, when you read books written by the giants in that field you will... SUNDAY ADELAJA So you drive as far as you can, even when you can clearly read the sign. You want to think you are e... ROBERT FULGHUM If you cannot read Shakespeare, or Melville, or Toni Morrison because it will trigger something trau... BRET EASTON ELLIS Read the writers whose work is still around and has survived the winds of fashion and the attacks of... RICHARD BAUSCH If you want to know a country, read its writers. AMINATTA FORNA Novelists and the literary world play an important part in shaping languages. The Swahili they write... ENOCK MAREGESI If you will read again what is written, you will see how it was. BLACK ELK A moment comes, and if you wish to look at yourself as human, you must take some kind of action. Oth... ALAN FURST All you need in life is to know thyself; to live with the knowledge that it’s just life and that's... JAMES A. MURPHY Would you approve of your young sons, young daughters -- because girls can read as well as boys -- r... MERVYN GRIFFITH-JONES If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. TONI MORRISON There are approximately two trillion cells in the human body. You are never alone, there are always ... DWIGHT W. HAYES If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. STEPHEN KING In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Follo... ITALO CALVINO 70 out of 100 people in the world cannot read... if you can read then you are the luckiest out of 2 ... CALL BAIN There's a lot of good eating experiences you may have had in your life that you wouldn't think were ... DANIEL FLETCHER You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you ... JAMES BALDWIN We live in America, anyone that lives here should be able to understand 6th grade English or read at... CORY COOK If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to wri... TONI MORRISON In quoting of books, quote such authors as are usually read; others you may read for your own satisf... JOHN SELDEN Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless f... CHUCK PALAHNIUK Maya Angelou is a very prolific writer. You can read her stuff down once and sort of walk away, but ... STANLEY CLARKE One can't write without having read - you have to read before beginning to write - and universit... NATHALIE SARRAUTE As an actor, you read so many scripts and parts written for Asian-specific characters, and you see a... RANDALL PARK You should read the novel in order to live, to feel, to tell someone the hidden secret of it. R... EMMA BRYNSTEIN It's different in Scotland. People who come to readings are more interested in literature as suc... IRVINE WELSH Write as much as you can. Read as much as you can. Use the library and the internet carefully for re... ENOCK MAREGESI People who can read and write expertly, as you can, are miracles and, in my opinion, entitle us to s... KURT VONNEGUT You can be a member of all of the romance writers associations, take part in all of the networking a... KATHRYN LE VEQUE It is books that are a key to the wide world; if you can't do anything else, read all that you can. JANE HAMILTON You must often make erasures if you mean to write what is worthy of being read a second time; and do... HORACE You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about your... BERYL MARKHAM You have to push yourself to get your heart rate up. The No. 1 thing I see is people not working at ... JENNIFER BRADLEY You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it. ADRIENNE RICH ? Reviews are for readers AND authors. It’s a good way of learning from what people think about th... ANA CLAUDIA ANTUNES When you read "The Secret" it tells you "Do not take no one's advice, but read books" Ain't that the... "BETA" METANI' MARASHI Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just lik... WILLIAM FAULKNER I believe that the phrase ‘obligatory reading’ is a contradiction in terms; reading should not b... JORGE LUIS BORGES ....a good book can teach you about the world and about yourself. You learn more than how to read be... MORTIMER J. ADLER Read, read, read. Read everything-- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like... WILLIAM FAULKNER Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like... WILLIAM FAULKNER Oh! And they read English novels! David! Did you ever look into an English novel? Well, do not troub... SUSANNA CLARKE Focus in on the genre you want to write, and read books in that genre. A LOT of books by a variety o... NICHOLAS SPARKS If you read all your history books, there are no women in them. CAITLIN MORAN If you write for God you will reach many men and bring them joy. If you write for men--you may make ... THOMAS MERTON I have advice for people who want to write. I don't care whether they're 5 or 500. There are three t... MADELEINE L'ENGLE Tell your story. Don't try and tell the stories that other people can tell. Any starting writer star... NEIL GAIMAN The best advice I can give on this is, once it's done, to put it away until you can read it with new... NEIL GAIMAN To read the Bible is of itself a laudable occupation and can scarcely fail of being a useful employm... JOHN QUINCY ADAMS Often times, candidates are a little coy, but you can read their stuff and figure out where they sta... LOUIS JAMBOIS As the biggest library if it is in disorder is not as useful as a small but well-arranged one, so yo... ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER When you read the Bible, you are reading the Holy Spirit and not history books. When you read histor... T. B. JOSHUA It's great being married to a writer. You live with someone who can read your work and help you. KAREN BENDER The great writers of aphorisms read as if they had all known each other well. ELIAS CANETTI There are but two things worth living for: to do what is worthy of being written; and to write what ... ROSS PEROT (Joan,1941) She wrote me a letter asking,"How can I read it?,Its so hard." I told her to start at th... RICHARD FEYNMAN Then the edge asserts itself. You are not a god. You are not that enlarged self. Indeed, you are not... ANNE CARSON If you run (the offense) right, there's so many things that we can get into. Even in the offensive b... CHARDE HOUSTON All a writer wants is to be read, and people are so flattering and lovely. I mean, there are witches... E. L. JAMES On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have wri... DAVID OGILVY How can you be on top of the things you do? I think when you are involved in a business, first of al... CARLOS SLIM I love you now as I write this, and I love you now as you read this NICHOLAS SPARKS If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it TONI MORRISON Literature cannot develop between the categories "permitted"—"not permitted"—"this you can and t... ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN To discern the Zeitgeist you need to read widely. You need to systematically scan all possible sourc... ABHISHEK RATNA To position yourself as an expert, learn everything you can about a subject. Develop your knowledge:... SUSAN C. YOUNG Everyone always talks about the magic of books being able to take you to other places, to let you se... BRANDON SANDERSON If you can't write, you can communicate by the other ways. But if you can't read, the world is shutt... PETAI JIRAKONGPIPAT But nothing is solid and permanent. Our lives are raised on the shakiest foundations. You don't need... RON RASH I read a lot of news online, but I like buying a paper because I'll read an article I wouldn'... EDDIE KAYE THOMAS
More Theodora Goss
Ah, well, when you explain it like that, it seems obvious," said Mudge. "Of course, it always seems ... THEODORA GOSS Learn as much as you can. Take every opportunity to learn about writing, whether it’s through clas... THEODORA GOSS If you’re a writer, your first duty, a duty you owe to yourself and your readers, and to your writ... THEODORA GOSS Accept criticism. If you do not offer your work for criticism and accept that criticism, meaning giv... THEODORA GOSS Write all the time. I believe in writing every day, at least a thousand words a day. We have a stran... THEODORA GOSS The only thing worth thinking about, when I write a story, is whether I like it, whether I want to w... THEODORA GOSS I will tell you, too, that every fairy tale has a moral. The moral of my story may be that love is a... THEODORA GOSS They don't think about shooting a gun. It means nothing to them. They don't care where (the bullets)... THEODORA BROCK The throne is a glorious sepulcher EMPRESS THEODORA I love as you come into Paris, you've got the Arch de Triomphe and all that crazy traffic. Then ... LUKE GOSS I need to be agile because I do all my own stunts. LUKE GOSS When I look in the mirror, I never see a handsome chap or the person people think I am. LUKE GOSS Oh, and I [Amy] may also have told him that I quite fancied Dr Smith [The Doctor]. Which in the 1780... JAMES GOSS Danny Trejo is so bloody cool, I mean, he can just stand there and look cool. LUKE GOSS Now... Just run.' [said the Doctor.] One of the things you learn very quickly around the Doctor... JAMES GOSS Part of me, I'm torn on this event because I'm so excited for Dillon. I know as a golfer what it mea... PAT GOSS I'm a gamer. I play PlayStation all the time. LUKE GOSS My work has taken a quantum leap in the complexity of what I can do. Enhanced creativity comes along... ALISON GOSS I've never spent so much time with someone who is so fully present and conscious. ALISON GOSS It's an inner technology that takes you into this silent space where you can watch what happens betw... ALISON GOSS I think our safeguards are in place and are working, PORTER GOSS I?m not quite as neurotic. FRED GOSS My grandfather was a faith healer and medium, and he always encouraged faith in the unseen. I believ... LUKE GOSS One of the qualities of independents (channels) is that it allows you to be more creative and more n... JAMES GOSS One of the things frankly we have to do is demystify (the CIA) a little bit, ... You are not going t... PORTER GOSS We formed because we were concerned with the initial applications to the Corps of Engineers. We're n... DAVID GOSS By all means they (charges) must be laid, ... It is heartbreaking to see this happen. My daughter is... DON GOSS To be cut out at the eleventh hour is annoying, and it's certainly not helpful, PORTER GOSS The Iraq conflict, while not a cause of extremism, has become a cause for extremists. PORTER GOSS Intelligence-related issues have become the fodder of partisan food fights and turf power skirmishes... PORTER GOSS The nominations of Ambassador Negroponte and Gen. Hayden are welcome news and a critical step in con... PORTER GOSS Dysfunctional organizations do not perform the way the Directorate of Operations performed in Afghan... PORTER GOSS An enemy that's working in an amorphous network that doesn't have to worry about a bunch of regulati... PORTER GOSS We're up against it in terms of what is on offer in Budapest or Prague. They've got non-unionized la... BRENDAN GOSS Eastern Europe wouldn't be alien territory to these guys. They are always looking for new locations ... BRENDAN GOSS To date, most of the shoots have been small scale. We would hope to spread the word to the bigger fi... BRENDAN GOSS The homes will close in 2007, and a temporary connection north and south will meet village standards... BRAD GOSS We suspect we will have buyers who love this town, who grew up in this area or want to come back to ... BRAD GOSS We think what we?re proposing makes sense in terms of the surrounding zoning. BRAD GOSS He's got something that [agency heads] don't have, and that is immediate access to the president if ... PORTER GOSS Prices have gone up this summer, instead of declining as they typically have done during the warmer ... DAVID GOSS In January I placed the likelihood of a Federal Reserve Rate hike in May at less than 10 percent. I ... ERNIE GOSS It looked as bad as it looked shortly after the spill. DON GOSS It's very disturbing to hear these things this far into this process. DON GOSS They're probably going to look more like Yahoo. It's funny, because for the longest time, Yahoo want... JIM GOSS We cannot afford to make changes blindly, or in unnecessary haste, PORTER GOSS I read a history book that said there once was a cotton gin in Ewing, DAVID GOSS No other state in the nation stands to derive as much of an economic stimulus from the opening of th... ERNIE GOSS He's got something that (agency heads) don't have, and that is immediate access to the president if ... PORTER GOSS That is why it is so important that consumers do whatever they can to reduce the amount of natural g... DAVID GOSS The supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina simply made a bad situation even worse, ... Most ... DAVID GOSS Supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Katrina simply made a bad situation even worse, ... Most of t... DAVID GOSS As far as trucks, the great thing about a Range Rover is if you're going out for a dinner, even ... LUKE GOSS We want fair, timely compensation. DON GOSS At the moment, it's simply a difference of opinon between the Doctor and you.. You both want the bes... JAMES GOSS Dysfunctional organizations do not take down or eliminate the most dangerous proliferators in the wo... PORTER GOSS Intelligence-related issues have become the fodder of partisan food fights and turf power skirmishes... PORTER GOSS They very definitely would like to find out all our secrets so they could copy them and take advanta... PORTER GOSS The jobs I'm being asked to do, the five hats that I wear, are too much for this mortal. I'm a littl... PORTER GOSS This has nothing to do whatsoever with treatment of prisoners ... I'm not interested in any of that. PORTER GOSS Every day is a new day for the intelligence people. I would say that we are probably a couple of yea... PORTER GOSS Things are going a lot better than the press has been reporting on virtually all fronts. We're going... PORTER GOSS we are a superpower, but we're not an aggressive superpower. PORTER GOSS This conference report illustrates how working together can benefit all Americans, both taxpayers an... PORTER GOSS Our intelligence -- the reason we have it in many forms around the world is to protect Americans at ... PORTER GOSS How did it come about that highly sensitive technical information was given to the Chinese? Why did ... PORTER GOSS My understanding is that the last, absolute inventory that was taken -- that surely established wher... PORTER GOSS There is a leadership problem at the highest levels of the Clinton-Gore administration about focusin... PORTER GOSS The fact that he is now aboard and announcing and saying, 'Gee we have a problem with terrorism,' is... PORTER GOSS We will be a fact-driven, witness-driven review inquiry, ... We will not be driven by outside pressu... PORTER GOSS asks for an investigation of those leaks, with particular concern that if there is any inappropriate... PORTER GOSS We are going to be in places people can't even imagine, PORTER GOSS The CIA credo is that the U.S. must always have the place of primacy among our interests, PORTER GOSS reaffirms our role as the lead for human intelligence. PORTER GOSS This is just extremely important and it's going to lead to other very successful activities very sho... PORTER GOSS We can totally disrupt. We've had great success at this already, but this gives us obviously more fo... PORTER GOSS the suspicion that maybe people are covering it up. PORTER GOSS The bottom line is, I want you to continue to do what you do best - provide our country with close-i... PORTER GOSS Their capture alone would not be enough to eliminate the terror threat to the U.S., PORTER GOSS The only thing that this uproar does is give aid and comfort to the enemy and I don't think there's ... PORTER GOSS They'll be there on our behalf doing what we've been doing for the last several days, meeting with C... DON GOSS There's an army of CN vehicles here with equipment to fix their track, and yet we're fending on our ... DON GOSS The trains are rolling and there's virtually nothing happening as far as cleanup. They're telling us... DON GOSS People are obviously pretty upset, DON GOSS In reality it's still a bleak, bad news story, but we're making progress. DON GOSS I think we need some legal advice and some environmental advice, DON GOSS I am thrilled and humbled to be on the award list as well in such distinguished company. DICK GOSS Liberty Union gave us a close call. Our kids responded to the challenge. DICK GOSS How are you, Rory?' [the Doctor] asked. I [Rory]... answered him. 'It's been odd being you.' JAMES GOSS The casting process wasn't so much about them being a character, which is the normal way. The charac... FRED GOSS But it's also a bottomless pit for story ideas. FRED GOSS Where I come from and where Nick comes from, there are a lot of divorces. People are giving it a sec... FRED GOSS The dialogue is all made up on the fly, but it's not all made up by the actors. There are a few writ... FRED GOSS We wanted to try to see if we could take something as traditionally structured as a half-hour TV com... FRED GOSS It's set in a suburb of Cincinnati. But we're actually shooting at Sunset and Gower (in Hollywood). FRED GOSS We wanted a half-hour comedy that was not joke-driven in the traditional sense. You're laughing beca... FRED GOSS It's not about industry people, and it's not a scenario where you go, 'Who the hell are these people... FRED GOSS Transportation firms reported continuing economic weakness. While 2006 is likely to be a positive ye... ERNIE GOSS The construction industry and transportation sector in Kansas have pushed 2005 growth into the very ... ERNIE GOSS Manufacturing job losses in the second half of 2005 pushed Arkansas' overall job growth for the four... ERNIE GOSS The Mid-America regional economy began 2005 like a lion, but higher interest rates and elevated ener... ERNIE GOSS For 2006, Minnesota's big economic stories will be problems related to the continuing cutbacks in th... ERNIE GOSS Iowa's leisure and hospitality industry and manufacturing, both durable and nondurable, ended 2005 o... ERNIE GOSS There's every reason to have some concern there. ERNIE GOSS The Mountain States region experienced growth significantly higher than the rest of the nation. The ... ERNIE GOSS The rate at which our Asian trading partners open their borders to U.S. beef will be an important fa... ERNIE GOSS The restriction with a lot of the other companies (like AOL-Time Warner) might have involved cross o... JAMES GOSS They had talked about that possibility. Between publishing and broadcasting and interactive, that pr... JAMES GOSS I think sometimes it's difficult to run something by committee; the management of both companies are... JAMES GOSS I think AOL Time Warner is worth a lot more than it's trading for, JAMES GOSS Usually you have some perspective on things. But what seemed acceptable at the time, what seemed lik... JAMES GOSS Big media companies do generally provide a balance and some diversification that provides greater st... JAMES GOSS The big media players will ultimately have higher stock prices but it's getting out from all these c... JAMES GOSS The company is already doing some of the things he wants, just not to the extreme he's recommending, JAMES GOSS HBO took an early lead and Showtime has had to catch up. You can attempt to be the first choice but,... JAMES GOSS Any time you are in the content creation business, you have to leverage that content in as many ways... JAMES GOSS [Amy] pulled a face. 'Honestly, when you grow up you'll learn you may as well try herding cats as ke... JAMES GOSS I love you,' cooed Fake Amy. 'You dance so much better than the Doctor.' 'Silly.' Real Amy nudg... JAMES GOSS But Amy Pond. Oh! The Sea had briefly been able to touch her mind — it knew that the Doctor was th... JAMES GOSS Maria looked at the TARDIS... 'Is that really your carriage?' She asked. 'It is not very good, monsi... JAMES GOSS Rory's not my pet dog!' I [Amy] yelled at the Doctor. 'Well, that would be better.' He was trul... JAMES GOSS Really, awfully, terribly, I had a sudden attack of hiccups. I was staring at the Doctor, murderousl... JAMES GOSS [The Doctor] pulled the thing out of Prince Boris's mouth, waving it around. 'Oh. Blimey. This is no... JAMES GOSS He was... wearing a tasselled velvet nightcap that I [Amy] noticed the Doctor eyeing up. If Boris di... JAMES GOSS I've lost the TARDIS as well.' I [Amy] was outraged. Considering my husband was dying and we we... JAMES GOSS Don't get me started on the whole Doctor-Amy-Rory thing. It's kind of like... I dunno. Suppose you'd... JAMES GOSS Well, what do you want me to say?' The Doctor was so angry he was almost hovering. 'Well done on mar... JAMES GOSS You see, there's a drill: 1. I [Amy] will say 'Right then, let's go and rescue him [Rory].' JAMES GOSS Now here's Amy Pond, standing in the freezing ocean, holding the body of her imaginary friend, and s... JAMES GOSS I thought he had blown the motor when I saw the smoke, ... He was turning it real hard. HELEN GOSS Winning tonight was big, I think that secured our championship a bit, ... Unless I come out and brea... HELEN GOSS My sister (Diane) is out here from South Carolina, so that makes this nice, HELEN GOSS I'm 42, the same age as this track, ... You can't get too much better than this. HELEN GOSS The landscape is what people see first when entering the campus and see last when leaving. The impac... MARSHALL GOSS They simply destroy us out here. MARSHALL GOSS As long as no one eats them. MARSHALL GOSS Rory, Rory, Rory - was it your idea to get The Sea to cure me?' [said the Doctor.] 'Yes,' said ... JAMES GOSS The Doctor puffed out some air and looked down to the sea. 'A very charming man. I should be more ca... JAMES GOSS It's Smith, actually.' Dr Smith smiled, bowing. 'I've remembered that my name is Smith. Almost defin... JAMES GOSS Every big city has its little communities, but they don't have the quaint, small-town charm, MICHAEL GOSS We make them feel welcome, ... Here, they have a mountain they can call their own. MICHAEL GOSS This is the best golf community in the United States. PAT GOSS I made sure I was always in the splits when they happened but when I was in them I wasn't doing too ... MATT GOSS I'm not a frat partier. I'm not worried about drinking myself to death. I don't know who does that. MATT GOSS I'm not a frat partier, ... I'm not worried about drinking myself to death. I don't know who does th... MATT GOSS A raw chicken, covered in wrapping paper... from this fan who always insisted on giving us food MATT GOSS