It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.
How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
If science fiction is the mythology of modern technology, then its myth is tragic.
Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.
A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.
To live a creative life we must first lose the fear of being wrong.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
A writer without interest or sympathy for the foibles of his fellow man is not conceivable as a writer.
Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
A writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than just simply to reveal to them the infinite possibilities of their own souls.
I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
Being a writer means taking the leap from listening to saying, “Listen to me”.
Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.