for Creatives

...endless encouragement, mounds of motivation, guidance galore = all the advice any creative could want or need, straight from the mouths and minds of our fellow artists

"When it comes to my own work, I've long embraced piracy. I don't see piracy as any different than a friend borrowing a book from a friend, or a single book making its way through a household or a school classroom. To me, the value is in being read. The danger is in losing an audience."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  reading, books, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Hugh Howey, art piracy

Follow Your Curiosity

"What I love about stories the most is the power they have to teach us of possibilities that might not occur to us without them."

— Ina May

for Creatives  |  reading, storytelling, value the art, never stop LEARNING, Ina May

"Photos are the perfect moment, captured in time, where you are responding to the photographer, when you are caught loving them. You can't tell me that isn't ALWAYS beautiful, because it is."

— Dawn French

for Creatives  |  photography, art, Dawn French, value the art, art interpretation, artist-audience relationship

"In the emotional reaction to a work of art, you do not fill in from yourself; you leave yourself."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  art, Robert Olen Butler, art interpretation, artist-audience relationship

"Fiction is the art form of human yearning."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  reading, art, Robert Olen Butler, artist in the art, literary fiction, writing

"Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self."

— Franz Kafka

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Franz Kafka

"All the time I'm not writing I feel like a criminal. It's horrible to feel felonious every second of the day. It's much more relaxing to actually write."

— Fran Lebowitz

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Fran Lebowitz

"Keep the physical limitations that some readers have in mind. Not all readers live near a bookstore, or have the eyesight for the small print of most published books, and some have no eyesight at all. Ebooks have been a boon for older readers, both for the large print and the weight reduction. Audiobooks have opened up worlds for the visually impaired. Online shopping and home delivery are the only option for millions of readers."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  reading, bookstores, publishing, Hugh Howey, books vs. ebooks, etc., audio books

Follow Your Curiosity

"It's really up to readers to decide.  We writers fill the pages, sure, but it's other folks who read and evaluate them."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, feedback/criticism/rejection, Junot Díaz, author readings, art interpretation, artist-audience relationship

"People have strong feelings about others pursuing their dreams. It's often a product of their own hopes, fears, and choices. You may have friends contact you from nowhere to encourage you. Others will question your talents, motives, and very worth as a writer."

— Lauren Kosa

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Lauren Kosa

"There's a careless optimism in the [Hollywood] executives' minds when they spend this money.  It's pin money to them, these options or development deals they make to get the script, they feel they can throw it away.  If it gets done somewhere else then they'll get some of their money back."

— William Kennedy

for Creatives  |  filmmaking, screenwriting, William Kennedy

"There really is a thing called poetry and it should be precise and evocative."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  poetry, Denise Duhamel

"Nothing ever happens by accident in the fantasy world.  Some phenomenon—supernatural or magic or otherwise—is responsible.  This is the logic of fantasy."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, David Gerrold

"The short story isn’t a tree, it’s a forest, maybe a jungle, and that isn’t sufficiently recognized."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, short stories, writing, value the art, Marcel Theroux

"Fashion is also an opportunity to get a message out about how you feel about the world."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  artist's message, Samantha Pleet, fashion design

"Getting a story published is almost as hard and merely a fraction as lucrative [as a novel] (if it pays anything at all), so pursue short stories only if you actually enjoy writing them."

— Thomas Mullen

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, short stories, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, publishing, Thomas Mullen

"Writing a poem is like smashing diamonds into magic powder, or at least like smashing a bottle and then throwing the glass shards up in the air." (artist)

— Campbell McGrath (photo by Morten Woldike Fotograf)

for Creatives  |  creative process, photography, writing, poetry, Campbell McGrath, Danish

"We all get rejected and criticized at every stage.  Feel the hurt and let it go."

— Debra Monroe

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, Debra Monroe

"I think extravagance in your life takes the energy from possible extravagances in your mind."

— Kay Ryan

for Creatives  |  creative process, inspiration/the muse, ideas, artists must EXPERIENCE, Kay Ryan

"Writing a novel is like building a model of the Eiffel Tower out of Popsicle sticks and Elmer's glue—it's a complex mechanical process and a real feat of engineering, but when we get right down to it, it's kind of artificial." (artist)

— Campbell McGrath (photo by Melanie Viola)

for Creatives  |  creative process, photography, creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, French, German, architecture, Campbell McGrath

"Read. This one sounds like a luxury, but if you fail to refill the well of inspiration, how will you be inspired to write words of your own?'

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  reading, creative process, writing, inspiration/the muse, David James Poissant

"Creativity itself has its own built-in discipline, the kind that, for example in a dream, can rummage through the days of the future to find precisely the data required to make a specific point."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  creative process, creativity, Jane Roberts

"Craft consists of everything you've learned how to do and have internalized, but when you're actually doing it, the actions you take are both conscious and instinctive." 

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  creative process, never stop LEARNING, Charles Baxter

"The time to start marketing is when you have lots of works to offer, or one of your works takes off, or you land a special deal somewhere with an agent or publisher or media outlet. Until then, the way to market is to be yourself and to put that self out there."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, publishing, agents, Hugh Howey

Follow Your Curiosity

"One very well-known writer of my acquaintance sits for two hours a day on a park bench.  He says that for years he used to lie on the grass of his back garden and stare at the sky, but some member of the family, seeing him so conveniently alone and aimless, always seized the occasion to come out and sit beside him for a nice talk.  Sooner or later, he himself would begin to talk about the work he had in mind, and, to his astonishment, he discovered that the urgent desire to write the story disappeared as soon as he had got it thoroughly talked out."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  Dorothea Brande

"If you do want to get into creative work, you’re going to have to see it as a side hustle. Not your main gig. That’s just the way it is.  It could become your main gig — if you’re very, very lucky — but the chances are slim. It’s hard to make it work."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, the creative life, design your life, your passion vs. the day job, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"What people SHOULD preface their rule-dispensing [for creative pursuits] with is something like this: 'Hey, this is the way it worked for me.  Maybe it'll work for you too?  And if not, no worries.  We're still pals.'"

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, the successful artist, reaching your audience, feedback/criticism/rejection, artist's message, artists supporting artists, Ryan G. Van Cleave, artists vs. artists/competition among creatives

"Only fantasy writers are virtually forced to begin selling at novel length because the market is so much smaller for fantasy."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  fantasy, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, genre, Orson Scott Card

"Trying to be the same as everyone else is a strategy that kind of works in school.  When you get out into the world, it is differences that make you glorious."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist integrity, creativity

"It's all about using everything and spinning it into something creative.  Instead of kicking against the pricks, you readjust your trajectory and go with the current.  Instead of pushing back against people you feel are attacking you, you use your opponent's momentum to disable them, much as you would in ju-jitsu."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, creative fear, Steve Coogan, feedback/criticism/rejection

"Find where your audience buys their books and sell there."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  books, writing, reaching your audience, bookstores, Chuck Wendig

"Wait until the book is finished before making a judgment on its content. By the time you have gone through twenty drafts, the characters may have developed lives of their own, completely separate from the people you based them on in the beginning. And even if someone, at some time, gets upset with your words—so what? Live your life, sing your song. Anyone who loves you will want you to have that."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  characters, artist integrity, creative fear, novel writing, writing, KEEP CREATING, editing, feedback/criticism/rejection, artists must EXPERIENCE, creative freedom, Walter Mosley

"Skillful story technique can sell even the most outrageous premises and protagonists. Check out Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955) and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi (2001). They turned fringe into famous. You can, too."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  books, fantasy, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, storytelling, Donald Maass, creative freedom, Vladimir Nabokov

Follow Your Curiosity

"The Genre ('knock-knock,' 'a horse walks into a bar,' 'take my wife') sets us up for an expectation. When the payoff is inevitable, but surprising, 'orange you glad I didn't say banana,' 'Why the long face,' 'PLEASE'), we laugh."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, genre, story endings, Shawn Coyne

"When the thrill of creation is its own reward, we are more inclined to create something lasting and meaningful."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, creativity, the creative life, creative freedom, Alan Watt

"Poetry doesn't have to acknowledge the passing of time.  The poem is an object on the page in many ways.  Line length is part of the form.  You can have a poem that just walks around in a timeless state as an object."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  Robert Olen Butler, writing, poetry

"A permission slip [to write]: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will." (artist)

— Stephen King (artwork by David Sipress)

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, creative fear, writing, Stephen King, cartoon, drawing/illustration, David Sipress

"I'm fortunate that so many major players in my early life [and memoirs] don't read books."

— Debra Monroe

for Creatives  |  reading, artist integrity, creative fear, novel writing, memoir, Debra Monroe

"One can get the false impression that stories are a necessary stepping stone to publication.  MFA programs tend to perpetuate this belief, with most fiction workshops focused on the short story form.  But if your goal is to publish a novel, you should write a novel."

— Thomas Mullen

for Creatives  |  short stories, novel writing, writing, formal arts education, writing workshops, Thomas Mullen

"Even now, well after making the leap and publishing both fiction and researched nonfiction articles, I still get labeled as a full-time stay-at-home mom. Writing doesn't feel real to people. You get used to it."

— Lauren Kosa

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, value the art, Lauren Kosa

"I collected comics, fell in love with carnivals and World's Fairs and began to write."

— Ray Bradbury (photo by Sam Hodgson)

for Creatives  |  writing, Ray Bradbury, artists must EXPERIENCE, comics, Sam Hodgson

"Writers don't decide what symbols mean. Symbols arise from the text."

— Alice Hoffman

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, Alice Hoffman

"Success is something that must be defined on your terms.  Let no one else define it for you."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, the successful artist, Nicki Porter

"The truly enduring stories, the narratives we encourage our friends to pick up and which happily make money for their creators over decades, the stories that outlast their creators, are the ones that reveal some core human truth."

— Kameron Hurley

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, the successful artist, reaching your audience, storytelling, Kameron Hurley

"Writing is never a perfect art, but you can perfect the work that you put into it."

— Virgil Suárez

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, art, writing, KEEP CREATING, Virgil Suárez

"The genius keeps all his days the vividness and intensity of interest that a sensitive child feels in his expanding world." (artist)

— Dorothea Brande (photo by Gregory Colbert)

for Creatives  |  artists must EXPERIENCE, Dorothea Brande, Gregory Colbert

"Today, more than ever, we need imagination and ideas."

— Azir Nafisi

for Creatives  |  KEEP CREATING, ideas, value the art, Azir Nafisi

"My best advice on how to form this habit [of writing every day] is twofold: Get comfortable staring at a blank screen and not writing. This is a skill. If you can not write and avoid filling that time with distractions, you'll get to the point where you start writing. Open your manuscript and just be with it. Secondly, learn to write rough. Stop caring about spelling and sentence fragments and plot holes and grammar. Get the story down. Listen to the dialog and try to keep up with your fingers. Get to the end of your manuscript and THEN worry about the quality.  If you can master the art of powering through to the end of your story, you are on your way."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, Hugh Howey

"We don’t make decisions based on our experiences.  We make them based on the stories of our experiences.  And we don’t form our stories based on an accurate reflection of experience.  We form them like novelists, and we look for a good ending."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  novel writing, storytelling, artists must EXPERIENCE, story endings, design your life, Derren Brown

"The only side you should fight on is the side of your audience. With weapons forged from the steel of Good Story."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, protect the art, storytelling, Chuck Wendig, artist-audience relationship

"In 1974, J.D. Salinger told the New York Times that while he was still writing, publication was no longer his concern.  'There's a marvelous peace in not publishing,' he said.  'Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy.'"

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, publishing, protect the art, Joel Fishbane, J.D. Salinger

"I realized that if writing was going to take me away from my boys or my husband, then I wanted to find the joy and happiness in life and find ways to record that in my poems." 

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, solitude of creating, artists must EXPERIENCE, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"I've been lucky in that my writing's been all over the place since the beginning, so the only pigeonhole I've had to deal with is that of being a literary writer.  While I sometimes wish publishers would recognize the genre elements in certain of my novels and market them accordingly—for their own gain, as well as mine—I'm just happy to get the books between the covers."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, genre, categorization of art, literary vs. commercial, Stewart O'Nan

"If you get inside the story and feel it, it doesn’t matter what age you are."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, filmmaking, storytelling, David Lynch

"Becoming a writer is mainly a matter of cultivating a writer’s temperament."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's voice, Dorothea Brande

"I try to share what I've learned with other magicians, just as mentors did with me.  Magicians talk quite freely about secrets within the industry, but we don't share anything with people outside of the industry.  I actually believe magicians should talk about their secrets with the public more than they do.  By keeping our art form completely secret, we're actually devaluing it."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, value the art, artists supporting artists, Ben Hart, magic/illusion/mentalism

"Developing written material to suit sales strategies in order to maximize corporate profit and advertising revenue is not the same thing as responsible book publishing or authorship."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, publishing, protect the art, value the art, Ursula K. Le Guin

"Every aspiring writer should read The Elements of Style."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, nonfiction, language, writing, Stephen King, never stop LEARNING, William Strunk Jr.

Follow Your Curiosity

"Stop thinking about all the reasons you have not to write your memoir and what people in your family might think and just get busy writing it."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, memoir, Augusten Burroughs

"The secret of making surrealist ideas work in books is that, once you've had the surrealist idea, you then have to take it completely literally. ... If you want these crazy things to feel real, you have to treat them as if they are real."

— Salman Rushdie

for Creatives  |  writing, surreal, value the art, Salman Rushdie

"It's better not to know so much about what things mean or how they might be interpreted [in art] or you'll be too afraid to let things keep happening. Psychology destroys the mystery, this kind of magic quality. It can be reduced to certain neuroses or certain things, and since it is now named and defined, it's lost its mystery and the potential for a vast, infinite experience."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, art, protect the art, filmmaking, artist's message, value the art, creative freedom, David Lynch, art interpretation

"We write from our obsessions, and often they involve memories of incidents and people that we've never quite been able to resolve in any sort of satisfactory way.  These moments linger like the pea under the mattress that disturbed the princess's sleep, or the splinter under the skin that's sore when we touch it."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, ideas, Lee Martin

"'Work hard,' is not only the most important, but actually, essential. I believe that if you didn't have to work for something, it can't truly be considered success. Luck doesn't count. I think success is allowed a certain pride and you can’t be proud of luck or even of being born smart, artistic, or talented. It's what you do with it that counts."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, the successful artist, KEEP CREATING, Ricky Gervais

"Fiction is able to take life and transform it and make it into something else.  By so doing, it allows us to see things about life that we wouldn't have been able to see before."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  reading, books, value the art, Brian Evenson

"Writing is often balanced with dozens of other obligations. Like working, cooking, cleaning, exercising, and picking up the kids from school. Nobody has the time to dedicate an entire day to just this activity. ... There is a popular misconception that successful writers have more time than the average person. That the only reason they do well is because they can spend hours each day on their books. That they don’t have to worry about pesky chores and errands like everyone else."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, the creative life, design your life, Steve Scott

"The artist touched the canvas and spent time to create that, and I can feel it.  Their passion is imprisoned in their work, or maybe it's time that's embedded there, not the passion." (artist)

— Kinukoy Yamabe Craft (artwork by Ann M. Riggott)

for Creatives  |  art, artists, artist in the art, value the art, painting, Kinukoy Yamabe Craft, Ann M. Riggott

"Resist deep longing for approval.  One needs to write not what a public wants but what it needs.  The first kind of work is what your need for approval will generate; the second is what your struggle will bring forth."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, Junot Díaz, artist-audience relationship

"We were talking about Jack Nicholson, and that level of aspiration for the film [based on my novel].  What happened was a change in the hierarchy at Warner Brothers, and the people who had brought the project in no longer had power.  That was the first time that happened.  But it happened over and over.  You don't know what to believe, and you never know for sure why you're getting turned down, or even why they were interested in you in the first place."

— William Kennedy

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, filmmaking, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, film based on novel, screenwriting, William Kennedy, Jack Nicholson

"Even if you are a great poet, it doesn't mean the road is easy.  It's very hard and it might take a while to be recognized."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, poetry, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, Denise Duhamel

"What I have enjoyed about science fiction from the time I dove in was how it opened my natural space. If I were reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons or whatever, as I'm walking down the street, I'm thinking of the shit that I just read and the world feels a little larger. I'd be thinking that there's more layers, parallel universes and so forth. It has enhanced my view of possibilities. It's kind of like film in a way. Great writers leave space, and that gap in between is your understanding."

— Saul Williams

for Creatives  |  reading, books, sci-fi, film, fantasy, writing, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Dan Simmons, Saul Williams

Follow Your Curiosity

"You can make up any rules you want for your fantasy story—but once you set those rules, you are bound by them.  You cannot break them; you cannot change them midway through the book.  Doing that betrays the trust of the audience.  Remember: If you are creating a world, you are behaving like a god—and gods don’t cheat."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, writing, David Gerrold

"Of course, you can't really change the world with fashion, but you can have a real impact on people's lives, their self image, and their self-expression.  Someone's mood can be improved from a special piece that brings a smile."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  value the art, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, artist-audience relationship

"Short stories are the same: they generally thrive on very severe attention. But it’s an art, not a science, so some writers ... need a certain ornateness to achieve their effect."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  art, short stories, language, writing, Marcel Theroux

"Results [of the writing life] vary. Side effects range from obscurity to the Nobel Prize."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  awards, the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, David James Poissant

"Being a prose writer is like being a bricklayer and being a poet is like being a jewel cutter."

— Campbell McGrath

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, Campbell McGrath

"My views are a natural part of my writing.  I am who I am.  That shapes how I see the world and how I narrate it.  I don't know that there's any separating one's views from one's writing.  Journalists often talk about impartiality and treat it as a holy grail—but I don't know that anyone is impartial."

— Roxane Gay

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, artist in the art, writing, artist's voice, artist's message, Roxane Gay

"With creative people strongly gifted ... [your natural self] is very prominent, no matter what you do. It therefore strongly resents any basically meaningless constraints placed about its experience. It knows, for example, how to enjoy each day, how to collect creative insights from each and every encounter, how to enrich itself physically through household chores or other activities. It dislikes being told that it must work thus and so at command of unreasonable restraints."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, artists, protect the art, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, creative freedom, design your life, Jane Roberts

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, Ray Bradbury

"I've come to feel that creative writing programs are havens for people who like to read."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, writing groups, Charles Baxter, formal arts education, writing workshops

"When you do get to create something, and you put it out for the world to see, if it’s free you’ll get a bunch of people who hate it, and if it’s not you’ll be called money hungry."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, value the art, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"It's clear that advice of any type—whether it's for writing great novels, making a terrific spinach soufflé, or pitching a new widget to the sales team—is anything but one-size-fits-all."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  gadgets, novel writing, creativity, writing, never stop LEARNING, Ryan G. Van Cleave, culinary arts

"Your reading and entertainment choices have a direct impact on your success as a writer. If your days are spent looking at the 33 Epic Selfie Fails on Buzzfeed or keeping up with the Kardashians, then you’re limiting your ability to write something great. Garbage in, garbage out.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a fiction or a nonfiction writer—reading quality books is a good habit to build."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  reading, the successful artist, writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, Steve Scott

"One surprising result of the ghettoizing of speculative fiction, however, is that writers have enormous freedom within its walls. It's as if, having once confined us within our cage, the keepers of the zoo of literature don't much care what we do as long as we stay behind bars. What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature. We have room for everybody, and we are extraordinarily open to genuine experimentation."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, genre, creative freedom, Orson Scott Card, categorization of art, TAKE RISKS

"It's OK to risk failure as you explore new ideas."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creative process, creative fear, writing, KEEP CREATING, Steve Coogan, creative freedom, TAKE RISKS

"Free is not a price. Free is a promotional effort in which you offer a sample taste of your literary heroin in order to secure the addictive loyalty of new readers. Free is temporary. Do not price free in the long-term. If your book is always free, I assume that's its value: worth zero."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"We turn to writers at times of change. If, as a society, we are future shocked and information overloaded, who better than genre writers to help us navigate through?"

— Dev Agarwal

for Creatives  |  artists, writing, culture, genre, value the art, Dev Agarwal

"Your mother is not reading what you have written. These words are your private preserve until the day they’re published."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, creative freedom, Walter Mosley

"Sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist integrity, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING

"These core two to four thousand readers will give new writers a shot. If the writer creates something unique, the aficionado will buy the next book too. And the book after that if the second one pays off too. This is how careers were made back in the day. Still are, even with the big publishing houses abandoning core Story categories for the big book."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, Shawn Coyne

"I am the author of one of the most banned and challenged books in American history [The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian] and that makes me giddy with joy."

— Sherman Alexie

for Creatives  |  books, artist integrity, memoir, creative freedom, American, Sherman Alexie

Follow Your Curiosity

"A book on creativity that insists upon one right way misses the point."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  nonfiction, creativity, Alan Watt

"When writing fiction with high impact, there’s no subject matter too taboo, no character too eccentric, no emotional content too intense, no themes too difficult. It’s all in how you handle it. What overcomes all objections are characters who compel, stories that grip, and writing that amazes."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass, creative freedom

"Art comes from the place where you dream.  It comes from your unconscious.  It comes from your white-hot center."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, art, Robert Olen Butler

"It is not experimental but traditional work that wins Hugo and Nebula awards within the field."

— Orson Scott Card (photo by Joy Alyssa Day & B.J. Johnson)

for Creatives  |  awards, sci-fi, fantasy, writing, Orson Scott Card, Joy Alyssa Day, B.J. Johnson

"I feel so grateful that I am an artist, that I have an art form with which to live my life and make sense of it—to start in morass and write through to clarity time and time and time again."

— Elizabeth Alexander

for Creatives  |  artists, writing, Elizabeth Alexander, the creative life, value the art

"In America, we place the most importance on athletics in schools.  And then academics.  The arts get dismissed.  But everything you wear, everything you sit on, any building you're in, any piece of tech you use—that was someone's creation.  That was someone's epiphany.  Every tangible thing came from the mind of an artist."

— Pharrell Williams

for Creatives  |  artists, sport, value the art, American, formal arts education, Pharrell Williams

"The arts are strong and will endure, but artists need and deserve our support.  Nourish the arts, and they will nourish us right back."

— Salman Rushdie

for Creatives  |  art, artists, protect the art, value the art, artists supporting artists, Salman Rushdie

"I don't think ... I have to show you, here, the relationship between archery and the writer's art.  I have already warned against thinking on targets."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  pantsing vs. plotting, writing, Ray Bradbury, creative freedom

"In a climate that discourages innovation, scientists have adopted new roles as dissenters and protesters.  As they unite and march, they find new allies in the arts and humanities that have long spoken truth to power."

— Rachel Carson

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, art, value the art, artists supporting artists, creative freedom, Rachel Carson

"Architecture is a future art—it's a system that we've built up to create the world that we want to see.  It is literally the manifestation of our civilization.  I use architecture to reframe the visual world, to improve narrative."

— David Adjaye

for Creatives  |  value the art, architecture, David Adjaye

"When you're making images, you're exercising your right to make images.  It's a crollary to freedom of speech."

— Trevor Paglen

for Creatives  |  photography, value the art, creative freedom, digital art, Trevor Paglen

"I really dig [Franz Kafka] a lot.  Some of his things are the most thrilling combos of words I have ever read.  If Kafka wrote a crime picture, I’d be there.  I’d like to direct that for sure."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  reading, books, crime, film, short stories, language, filmmaking, Franz Kafka, David Lynch

Follow Your Curiosity

"Arts education in public school is as essential as sports and math.  It's where we learn how to be people in collaboration with other people."

— Tina Fey

for Creatives  |  sport, value the art, artists supporting artists, formal arts education, Tina Fey

"I've seen teenagers just come alive with energy and joy when given the opportunity to express themselves creatively."

— Tony Bennett

for Creatives  |  creativity, artist's voice, value the art, artists supporting artists, creative freedom, Tony Bennett

"The best photographs are like bottled lightning, capturing an extraordinary, unrepeatable moment."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  photography, art, creating in the moment, Marcel Theroux

"The power of science fiction is that you're able to experience the worst-case scenario without actually having to live it." (artist)

— Ryan Gosling (artwork by Tokyo Genso)

for Creatives  |  art, artists, sci-fi, Ryan Gosling, digital art, Tokyo Genso

"I've never had much luck trying to please a specific audience.  I write for myself, in the hope that enough people will be interested and amused by the same things that interest and amuse me. ... I work for the audience, but the minute I treat them like my boss, the relationship falls apart."

— Mike Rowe

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, reaching your audience, artist-audience relationship, Mike Rowe

"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music that words make."

— Truman Capote

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, language, music, writing, Truman Capote

"You write because you need to.  Period.  But you publish because you want people to read your work."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, publishing, Nicki Porter

"Reading at meals is considered rude in polite society, but if you expect to succeed as a writer, rudeness should be the second-to-least of your concerns. The least of all should be polite society and what it expects. If you intend to write as truthfully as you can, your days as a member of polite society are numbered, anyway."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  reading, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, culture, Stephen King, the creative life

"The problem is that America's record of translations is worse than any other western country.  Fewer than two percent of books published in America in a given year were written in a language other than English.  Fewer than two percent!  And some of those are textbooks.  If you come down to literature, it's a fraction of one percent.  And so it's very hard for American readers to even know about he work because that work is not translated or published in their language.  In England, it's not great either.  About five percent.  But in places in Western Europe, like in France, it's twenty-five percent and in Germany, it's more than thirty percent.  And so writers are able to be heard in those languages and readers are able to hear them."

— Salman Rushdie

for Creatives  |  reading, books, language, culture, reaching your audience, publishing, value the art, Salman Rushdie, American

"Write what you want to write.  Which is to say: Ignore the market.  Which is to say: Just because dystopian young adult fiction sells well, if that fiction doesn't light you up, write whatever does.  Which is another way of saying: Follow your bliss."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, David James Poissant

"You do not say to the creative self, 'Now it is 7:30. People are at their assembly lines. I am at my desk: produce.'"

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  the creative life, value the art, Jane Roberts, your passion vs. the day job

"You don't have to be a scientist to write effective science fiction, but you do need to be enthused about the adventure of discovery."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, sci-fi, writing, David Gerrold

"We need to be careful about the argument that literature always enables empathy.  There are counter-examples: Josef Goebbels, that Nazi kingpin, wrote a novel.  Knut Hamsun was a great novelist and the most unpleasant major writer of the 20th center.  Louis-Ferdinand Céline, a great writer, was a crazy anti-Semite.  Ezra Pound, another great writer, had, let us say, limited resources of empathy.  I could go on with this rogue's gallery.  Literature may enable empathy, but it often doesn't.  It can't turn monsters, even monsters of genius, into good people.  That's not the business of literature." 

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Charles Baxter, Josef Goebbels, Knut Hamsun, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Ezra Pound

"Not to write, for many of us, is to die."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, Ray Bradbury

"The thing is, it's hard to do great creative work at the end of the day when you're tired and worn down by trying to make a living in a day job, in a business that you've founded to bring in income etc."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the creative life, your passion vs. the day job, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"The sf reader doesn't expect to receive a complete picture of the world all at once. Rather he builds up his own picture bit by bit from clues within the text. ... This, again, is one of the protocols of reading sf. The reader is expected to extrapolate, to find the implied information contained in new words."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  reading, sci-fi, fantasy, writer-reader relationship, Orson Scott Card

"The downside to institutionalizing creative writing involves institutional bad faith: for the sake of enrollments, you may be encouraging people with little or no talent.  My impression is that physicists don't encourage people who can't do math, just for the sake of enrollments."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  writing, value the art, Charles Baxter, formal arts education

"I have learned, on my journeys, that if I let a day go by without writing, I grow uneasy.  Two days and I am in tremor.  Three and I suspect lunacy.  Four and I might as well be a hog, suffering the flux in a wallow.  An hour's writing is tonic.  I'm on my feet, running in circles, and yelling for a clean pair of spats."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, KEEP CREATING, Ray Bradbury, the creative life

"I write because I'm passionate about it, and I love it. It's not going away. I could have a readership of zero and I'd still be here. ... It's something I do for the sake of doing it, because I want to do it. And that's what creative work is becoming."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"Write often enough that you don't lose your rhythm or forget what you're up to.  That might mean writing every other day.  Or only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  If you're thinking about your work and reading a lot during that in-between time, it can help make those less-than-every-day writing sessions as productive as an every-day 'Must-Do!' writing routine (which can start to feel like drudgery pretty darn fast)."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, word count, the creative life, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"In practical terms, you'll have a better chance selling to the [sf genre] magazines if your story is (1) short and (2) science fiction rather than fantasy. My career followed that track; so did the careers of most other science fiction writers in the field."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, the successful artist, writing, publishing, editors, Orson Scott Card

"There's an old adage in Hollywood, 'Ready, fire, aim'."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  Steve Coogan, filmmaking

"An abandoned story at page one or page 356 has the same value as a story you never wrote in the first place."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  creative fear, writing, KEEP CREATING, writer's block, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"Where it all came from—the other mother with her button eyes, the rats, the hand, the sad voices of the ghost-children—I have no real idea. It built itself and told itself, a word at a time."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  books, Neil Gaiman, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, children's books, inspiration/the muse

Follow Your Curiosity

"Some of the criticism may be accurate; some might be completely off. But no matter what anyone says, it will not be your own idea, so you will have to keep those external notions at bay."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, protect the art, feedback/criticism/rejection, Walter Mosley

"The Professional writer, whether consciously or subconsciously, knows exactly where his idea sits on the Literary and Commercial spectrum long before he starts to work."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  writing, ideas, Shawn Coyne, categorization of art

"The antidote to fear is to continually, one day at a time, stay out of the result and place ourselves squarely in the process."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, creative fear, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Alan Watt

"Some might argue that novels shouldn't have to have a great ending, that we should just enjoy spending time with the characters.  Sorry ... We demand great endings of our movies and our plays, and we'll continue to do so of our novels."

— Jon Phillips

for Creatives  |  reading, books, novel writing, filmmaking, storytelling, story endings, playwriting, Jon Phillips

"If there were a manifesto for 21st century fiction writers, I hope it would go like this: Down with high-flown literature! Cast off genre servitude! The revolution is founded in authorial liberty. It regards story and art as equals."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, art, writing, protect the art, storytelling, genre, value the art, artists supporting artists, Donald Maass, creative freedom, categorization of art

"Art does NOT come from the mind.  It does not come from your rational, analytical faculties.  It does not come from ideas.  It does not come from theories.  It does not come from philosophies.  You don't write a book in order to express a theme or make symbols.  That's NOT the process."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, Robert Olen Butler, novel writing, creativity, writing, ideas

"Perhaps you feel the urge to be your own boss, to promote your own works, and you'd rather not have someone else earn royalties on your hard-won promotional efforts.  So you self-publish.  And you are delighted with that decision."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, publishing, Nicki Porter

"Simple exposure doesn't make us great dog people any more than reading a lot of books automatically makes us great writers."

— Kameron Hurley

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, KEEP CREATING, Kameron Hurley

"It's optional.  Writers should only engage in social media if they want to.  If you don't want to or if you're doing it halfheartedly, it shows.  I think it's important for writers to not think in terms of platform.  It's not healthy. ... Yes, I have a platform, and it would be disingenuous to deny that.  But in terms of getting to that place, I was just myself."

— Roxane Gay

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Roxane Gay

"Short fiction satisfies my writing itch because it's such a beautiful craft.  A good story doesn't try to do lots and lots of things.  It does one thing well.  Sometimes that is a most splendid thing."

— Ellen Klages

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, storytelling, Ellen Klages

"When I go to literary conferences that are non-genre, if it's just a broad literary conference, and I say I write literary horror, they respond, 'I can't read that stuff.'  I'm supposed to just say, 'I understand.'  I met a writer who does historical British non-fiction, from a specific time period.  If I'd said, 'I don't read anything before 1700,' I would be a jerk."

— Paul Tremblay

for Creatives  |  reading, genre, value the art, creative freedom, writing conferences, Paul Tremblay, artists vs. artists/competition among creatives

"Stories fuel our courage and offer the cautions that we believe will help guide our own paths." (artist)

— Shawn Coyne (artwork by Jeremiah Morelli)

for Creatives  |  reading, artists, storytelling, value the art, Shawn Coyne, digital art, Jeremiah Morelli, German

"Elliot Fried ... told me that if I wanted to be told what to write, journalism would be fine, but if I wanted to write what I wanted, then I should enroll in his novel writing workshop.  And so I did, and that class changed my life forever."

— Virgil Suárez

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, novel writing, writing, creative freedom, Virgil Suárez, Elliot Fried

"Readers also need to be free to read whatever they like and be able to publicly discuss them and to publicly make their demands known."

— Azir Nafisi

for Creatives  |  reading, protect the art, Azir Nafisi

"I know a lot of authors who are saying 'no' to offers because publishers want all the rights, and nobody wins in that scenario."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  publishing, value the art, Hugh Howey

"I hope that whoever reads my work, no matter the subject matter, will be able to tell that this poet is so clearly in love with the animals and plants and mysteries of this planet and tried to do her very best to get you to feel the same way too." (camera owner)

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil (self-portrait by Sulawesi crested macaque)

for Creatives  |  nature, create for YOURSELF, writing, poetry, writer-reader relationship, artist's message, flora & fauna, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, David J. Slater

"No one wants to buy a [self-help] book that proclaims such a measured, modest message from its cover.  To sell big, you have to over-promise."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, nonfiction, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Derren Brown

"Writing and publishing are two very different acts, and the two are not as connected as might be assumed."

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, Joel Fishbane

"You have to do it better or different that it's been done before, otherwise there's no point doing it.  But that challenge is what makes writing a book ... so much fun."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, value the art, Stewart O'Nan

"Magic is a fascinating and primal thing.  What's most interesting is the psychology behind it.  People are desperate to experience wonder.  We are desperate to find mystery in our lives.  I believe it's innate; it's so hard-wired into our brains that we can't escape it."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, reaching your audience, artists must EXPERIENCE, Ben Hart, magic/illusion/mentalism

"The stupid conclusion that if he cannot write easily he has mistaken his career is sheer nonsense."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, creative fear, writing, writer's block, Dorothea Brande

"We need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  art, writing, value the art, Ursula K. Le Guin

"You can't lie to yourself if you're going to be a memoirist.  Our personal failures and limitations and weak or fragile spots are the most interesting things to read about.  Again, it comes back to telling the truth as opposed to the thing we wish were true or ought to be true or assume at first glance to be true.  I think a memoirist really has to be willing to—not necessarily comfortable with—revealing their deepest emotions, motivations, and actions on the page for anyone to view and judge."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, memoir, Augusten Burroughs

"I usually listen to [a book] in the car (always unabridged; I think abridged audiobooks are the pits), and carry another wherever I go. You just never know when you'll want an escape hatch."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, Stephen King, value the art, audio books

"We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don't know."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, inspiration/the muse, ideas, Stephen King

"In Hollywood, more often than not, they're making more kinds of traditional films, stories that are understood by people. And the entire story is understood. And they become worried if even for one small moment something happens that is not understood by everyone. But what's so fantastic is to get down into areas where things are abstract and where things are felt, or understood in an intuitive way that, you can't, you know, put a microphone to somebody at the theatre and say 'Did you understand that?' but they come out with a strange, fantastic feeling and they can carry that, and it opens some little door or something that's magical and that's the power that film has."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, reaching your audience, protect the art, filmmaking, storytelling, David Lynch, artist-audience relationship

"We can use strategies derived from what we know about narrative to give our non-narrative essays more resonance."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, essay, storytelling, Lee Martin

"Readers don't have time for anything but the really good stuff, and the writer needs to deliver on page one."

— David Hagberg

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, story beginnings, David Hagberg

"When you're writing your first book, nobody really cares, except you.  It's totally self-motivated.  Writing [my second book] was the toughest thing I've ever done."

— Matthew Norman

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, creating isn't easy, creative fear, novel writing, writing, Matthew Norman

"I love reading fiction, but I can hardly stand to listen to a fiction writer talk about his or her book—it's like a painter talking about his painting or a composer describing a symphony.  You want to read the novel, you want to see the painting, you want to hear the music—you don't want to hear a lot of talk about it."

— Douglas Preston

for Creatives  |  art, artists, music, writing, painting, artist-audience relationship, Douglas Preston, composing

"[Writing] akes a long time.  There is no rushing it, and the work exists on its own timetable, outside of your own personal deadlines."

— Kaitlyn Greenidge

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, creating in the moment, the creative life, Kaitlyn Greenidge

"I think everyone should sing and that everyone should write.  Like reading, these should be broadly accepted as social practices and not as fine arts."

— Roy Peter Clark

for Creatives  |  reading, creativity, writing, culture, singing, Roy Peter Clark

"It was especially severe as a student in my overly competitive MFA program at the University of Iowa.  We students were pitted against each other and competed for praise, merit scholarships, and teaching jobs.  Most workshops, I'd leave in tears."

— Harriet Levin Millan

for Creatives  |  writing, formal arts education, writing workshops, Harriet Levin Millan, artists vs. artists/competition among creatives

"I've also been at writers' summer workshops where really the model is setting one young writer against another.  I find that appalling.  Writing is not the WWE."

— Jane Yolen

for Creatives  |  writing, Jane Yolen, formal arts education, writing workshops, artists vs. artists/competition among creatives

"What loafing does for my creative process: I get many of my brainstorms when I'm doing something totally unrelated to the diligence of the butt-in-chair calcified advice that many new writers receive."

— Yi Shun Lai

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, leisure, inspiration/the muse, the creative life, Yi Shun Lai

"In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in.  It musn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own."

— Rachel Cusk

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, artist's message, memoir

"With Art as forceps, pull that Truth."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, art, Ray Bradbury

"From my own experiences I've learned that quirky, different, fringe projects that may only be cult, often travel a lot better internationally. Mainstream comedians and TV shows that might be the biggest thing, on say, UK TV for a while, often don't sell a sausage around the world. Comics selling out arenas in the UK often can't sell a ticket in America or many other places."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, TV series, comedy, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Ricky Gervais, TV writing, comedy writing

"Your first commitment [as a writer] has to be the experience of the reader.  Since fiction is something that's created by words on a page, the way in which you express your commitment to the reader is by using the words on the page to make an effective experience that someone else can have.  This may mean that it's enjoyable, stressful, intense, or something else.  It depends on what kind of writer you are."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  language, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, artist's voice, Brian Evenson

"The bulk of your writing should focus on genres or niches that you enjoy. Sure, there will be times when you write to pay the bills, but spend most of your days on exciting projects."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, genre, the creative life, Steve Scott, your passion vs. the day job

"Writing 20 books in your career is wonderful; I wish I had written as much.  But ultimately I'd rather write the best book I can write no matter how long it takes me than the best book I can write fast simply because the unrelenting pace of our society demands speed in all things. "

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, novel writing, writing, Junot Díaz

"Story's important, so don't let it get buried with words."

— Devon Avery

for Creatives  |  language, storytelling, Devon Avery

"When you write a love poem, the happy love poem, readers might be thinking 'screw you, I don't care.'  When you write a love poem, there has to be the awareness of the fragility of life that you could lose this person at any moment, or this person could leave, or you could die.  You have to have some shadow to prop up the poem; otherwise, it becomes sentimental, and you don't want sentimentality.  You want sentiment but not sentimentality."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, reaching your audience, Denise Duhamel

"You go in with these extremely high hopes.  I don't know why after a while you have those hopes, because it's very hard to continue to be serious about writing screenplays.  You get cynical, and you feel like the money's the only thing."

— William Kennedy

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, KEEP CREATING, filmmaking, screenwriting

"Every great writer was once a beginner.  Remember that.  Don't beat yourself up for not knowing something.  Go out and learn it."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  creative fear, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, David Gerrold

"I just remember getting bashed for them. But what is funny is that someone will bash them, then pick one out and say 'this one was the exception' and then another person will be bashing them and that won't be their exception, a different one'll be their exception. ... Some of those albums that people say were so bad are among my favorites."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  photography, music, writing, reaching your audience, feedback/criticism/rejection, Marcel Theroux

"Find Art.

Seize brush.  Take stance.  Do fancy footwork.  Dance.

Run race.  Try poem.  Write play."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  art, artists, writing, poetry, KEEP CREATING, Ray Bradbury, artist's message, playwriting

"The only thing that you absolutely have to know is the location of the library."

— Albert Einstein

for Creatives  |  reading, never stop LEARNING, libraries, Albert Einstein

"We should always be changing and inspired by new things."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, never stop LEARNING, Samantha Pleet, design

"Beginning writers almost always underedit."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  writing, editing, Marcel Theroux

"Reading is fuel for the imagination.  Reading is inspiring.  Reading is relaxing.  Reading is a way to keep this 'art' part of your brain active between writing sessions."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, inspiration/the muse, value the art, never stop LEARNING, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"I used to worry about [negative criticism of my work] until I realized that if you look at the great attacks on literature in the last hundred years or so, they were almost all carried out by people who had not read the work in question."

— Salman Rushdie

for Creatives  |  books, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, reviews, feedback/criticism/rejection, creative freedom, Salman Rushdie

"Write when you want to write. Write when you don't want to write. Write when the sun is shining and when it rains. Don't write when the tornado's on the way. Take shelter."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, David James Poissant

"Trying to fit the great thrust of creativity into assembly-line time is in itself bound to lead to conflicts, dissatisfactions, and frustrations."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, creativity, the creative life, creative freedom, design your life, Jane Roberts

"I have always wanted to write mysteries, ever since I was a little girl growing up in rural Indiana.  We used to ride our ponies to the library and fill up the saddlebags with books, and then read up on the hayloft of the barn behind our house.  I fell in love with Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, and Nancy Drew.  And that's when I decided I wanted to either be a detective or a mystery author."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  reading, books, mystery, writing, inspiration/the muse, libraries, Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Untalented writers may feel cheated and lied-to if they can't get published, if they don't have good lives as writers.  Which is why you have to tell everybody at the outset that no creative writing program can guarantee a career, or publications, or anything except for some close readings and guidance."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, publishing, never stop LEARNING, design your life, Charles Baxter, formal arts education

"Writing allows just the proper recipes of truth, life, reality as you are able to eat, drink, and digest without hyperventilating and flopping like a dead fish in your bed."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, Ray Bradbury, the creative life

"Let me tell you, people spend a lot less on writing than they do on music. How does a writer live, on the money we're talking right now?"

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, the creative life, value the art, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"A novel is a pedestrian work about the everyday lives of bricklayers and saints."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  books, novel writing, storytelling, Walter Mosley

"Kids shouldn't grow up thinking that the only thing of any importance is earning money.  They should be learning about culture, not business."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  culture, Steve Coogan, artists must EXPERIENCE, value the art

"People Are Going To Steal Your Book: The current generation is used to open access, not restricted ownership. Someone is going to gank your book. They're gonna gank the unmerciful fuck out of it. And you're either going to be mad about it and flail or you're going to find a way to deal and, in a perfect world, make it work for you."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writer-reader relationship, protect the art, Chuck Wendig, the creative life, value the art, art piracy

"This would-be novelist has betrayed herself in order that she not tell the story that has been clawing its way out from her core. She would rather not commit herself to the truth that she has found in the rigor of writing every day. This form of restraint is common and wholly unnecessary."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, value the art, creative freedom, Walter Mosley

"I've used more than one non-sentence in this article alone, and the Grammar Police haven't come after me yet.  If it sounds right to your ears and it works for readers, leave it alone.  Even if it's a fragment."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  language, writing, creative freedom, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"There's a cycle in science fiction that most writers follow. They break into the field by selling short stories and novelettes to the magazines until their names and styles become familiar to book editors. Then they sign a few book contracts, get some novels under their belts, and suddenly they don't have time for those $400 stories anymore. The magazines that nurtured them and gave them their starts watch as the novels flow and the short fiction trickles in. So the magazines are forced to search constantly for new talent."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, sci-fi, short stories, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, the creative life, Orson Scott Card

"You feel very alive constantly being one decision away from disaster."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creative process, creative fear, Steve Coogan, filmmaking, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life

"Most readers just plain don't care who publishes someone, whether it's you, a Random Penguin, or some magic coyote hobo."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, publishing, Chuck Wendig

"Another source of restraint for the writer is the use of personal confession and the subsequent guilt that often arises from it."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creative fear, writing, writer's block, creative block, Walter Mosley

"I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren't any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, creative fear, the successful artist, Neil Armstrong

"By Story’s end, the listener or reader or watcher has to be at the very least surprised and satisfied by the payoff of the Story’s initial promise."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, Shawn Coyne

"When we show our work too soon, we are abdicating authority over it. Certainly there comes a point where we need a fresh eye, but until we have done all we can do, we jeopardize our relationship to our initial impulse."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, creating in the moment, protect the art, value the art, Alan Watt

"Who cares if you can’t be classified? The imaginations that matter are those glued to your pages."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass, creative freedom, categorization of art

"I love short stories.  Imagine holding a small carved bowl, its weight and shape and size a perfect fit for two cupped hands.  The grain of the wood flows with teh bowl's curves.  The interplay of light and dark pleases the eye.  The texture is silken against your skin.  You turn it, admiring the craft the artistry, and the detail.  'It's lovely,' you say, handing it back to its creator.  Then you say, 'Now when are you going to make something real, like furniture?'  Now imagine the bowl is a short story.  Why do so many readers and writers consider short stories to be some sort of training wheels?  As if writing a short story is just a way of wobbling around until you find your balance, and are ready for the big-girl bike of a novel?"

— Ellen Klages

for Creatives  |  short stories, novel writing, writing, value the art, categorization of art, Ellen Klages

"I went to ... a great theater school.  And despite a lot of success, I decided I wanted to write instead of interpret."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  Robert Olen Butler, writing, playwriting, formal arts education

"It's still very possible to make money writing pure spectacle—there will always be a brisk market for porn and explosions."

— Kameron Hurley

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, storytelling, screenwriting, Kameron Hurley

"Everyone works differently.  I'm sure for new writers, it's frustrating to hear the answer to the 'How do you do it?' questions is that everyone works differently.  But I also take comfort from that.  You've got to find what works for you."

— Paul Tremblay

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, writing, the creative life, never stop LEARNING, Paul Tremblay

"I also go out in the afternoons to shoot photographs.  I find that the process of training the eye to compose in the viewfinder helps me hone my ability to revise poems.   I've always loved the connections and cross-pollination between art forms."

— Virgil Suárez

for Creatives  |  photography, art, writing, poetry, editing, artists must EXPERIENCE, never stop LEARNING, Virgil Suárez

"The only places I feel most at home in, exist in my 'portable world'; those democratic spaces where my kith and kin from the Republics of Imagination and Ideas reside."

— Azir Nafisi

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, magic/mystery of creating/art, ideas, creative freedom, Azir Nafisi

"It is this heart we need for our own writing—one that moves to understand and expresses a deep connection to life, which is also what I take essayist to mean." 

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  writing, essay, artists must EXPERIENCE, Liz Blood

"There are thousands of editors out there looking for work. The big publishers use a lot of freelance editors these days. I can hire the same people I might end up with if I were to go the traditional route, pay them once, and still retain ownership and control over my work."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, editing, publishing, protect the art, editors, Hugh Howey, creative freedom

"If I was writing about a crow feather, I wanted to make sure I got the shape exactly right, the right point and feel.  This began my incorporating research into my poetry, and to this day, I still do a lot of research to make sure I always portray the natural world correctly." (artist)

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil (artwork by Jody Edwards)

for Creatives  |  nature, art, artists, writing, poetry, painting, flora & fauna, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Jody Edwards

"We tell the story we want to tell, and we live out those stories every day."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, storytelling, the creative life, design your life, Derren Brown

"The urge to produce another—to redeem the first book by writing a second—led to my own spurt of inefficient frenzy, which didn't result in anything of worth.  I was stalled, not be writer's block, but by the conviction that whatever I wrote had to be of superior worth."

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, novel writing, writing, creative block, Joel Fishbane

"I never read, particularly, a mystery or a romance or a sci-fi.  I just read anything.  When I started out [writing], I don't think I had the concept of 'They must be shelved somewhere.'"

— Heather Graham

for Creatives  |  reading, create for YOURSELF, writing, genre, creative freedom, categorization of art, Heather Graham

"I encourage writers to not look at their reviews, and I usually don't." (artist)

— J.A. Konrath (artwork by Charles-Joseph Traviès de Villers)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, art, artists, J.A. Konrath, reviews, feedback/criticism/rejection, drawing/illustration, Charles-Joseph Traviès de Villers

"I see major thematic and even dramatic similarities between all my books.  In novels, there's no masking one's interests and obsessions."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist in the art, novel writing, writing, artist's voice, Stewart O'Nan

"Instruction in writing is oftenest aimed at the oblivious tradesman of fiction, and the troubles of the artist are dismissed or overlooked."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, creative fear, artists, writing, creative block, formal arts education, Dorothea Brande

"Magic is such a raw, emotional experience, and it can be used as a storytelling device.  Sometimes people scream and run away—what a profound effect!  There is no other art form that can do that.  You cannot make somebody gasp, scream, and run away by looking at a painting or watching a dance routine."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  art, reaching your audience, storytelling, painting, Ben Hart, performance art, magic/illusion/mentalism, artist-audience relationship

"To preach that story is conflict, always to ask 'where's the conflict in your story?'—this needs some thinking about.  If you say that story is about conflict, you're limiting your view of the world severely.  And, in a sense, making a political statement: that life is conflict, so in stories conflict is all that really matters.  This is simply untrue.  To see life as a battle is a narrow, Social-Darwinist view, and a very masculine one.  Conflict, of course, is part of life, I'm not saying you should try to keep it out of your stories, just that it's not their only lifeblood.  Stories are about a lot of different things."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, artists must EXPERIENCE, artist's message, Ursula K. Le Guin, creative freedom

"The ingredients for making a successful work to me are imagination, idea, composition, skill and dedication."

— Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, the successful artist, ideas, value the art, painting, never stop LEARNING, Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

"My books are always a process of discovery.  I almost never have any idea what I'm doing until I'm actually doing it.  In fact, I think every time I've had a plan or an idea, it has been entirely sidelined by whatever I uncover while writing."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, pantsing vs. plotting, novel writing, creating in the moment, Augusten Burroughs

"If you're playing a movie on a phone, you will never in a trillion years experience the film. You'll think you have experienced it, but you'll be cheated. It's such a sadness that you think you've seen a film on your fucking telephone. Get real."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  gadgets, film, reaching your audience, value the art, David Lynch

"The reporting of facts ... rarely contains the whole truth.  I say this because facts involve people and people are made up of contradictions.  The reporting of what happened rarely includes the more important question of what the story means to the people who stand at its center."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  characters, storytelling, Lee Martin

"I'm a strong believer that creativity is the ability to play."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  artists, creativity, Ricky Gervais, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life

"Good fiction is not trying to imitate life or trying to reproduce what's going on in life.  Life serves as a catalyst, as a provocation that leads to something fictional that's interesting.  It creates a new world that has its own constraints, its own rules, and its own system that can really be intersting in and of itself.  It can also come back and teach us something about life.  There is a constantly circulating movement in the interchange between life and fiction."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, inspiration/the muse, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, Brian Evenson

"It's important to feed your mind with quality information daily. Only then is it possible to come up with great book ideas."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  writing, ideas, artists must EXPERIENCE, never stop LEARNING, Steve Scott

"In the long run, then, whatever is published within the field of science fiction and fantasy is science fiction and fantasy, and if it doesn't resemble what science fiction and fantasy were twenty years ago or even five years ago, some readers and writers will howl, but others will hear the new voice and see the new vision with delight."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, genre, creative freedom, Orson Scott Card

"I always urge young writers who feel the pressure to produce to spend more time browsing bookstores.  I urge them to check how many books any writer tends to have on the shelf.  Ours is a culture where it's lucky for a writer to be remembered for even one book, less three or four."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Junot Díaz

"The usual negative attitude toward anything that you present to folks in Hollywood: They say 'no' all the time; very rarely do they say 'yes.'  They're in the business of saying 'no;' they're in the business of not making movies."

— William Kennedy

for Creatives  |  filmmaking, screenwriting, William Kennedy

"There's no substitute for being a prodigal reader, for knowing the unlimited things that can be done with words on a page."

— Olivia Laing

for Creatives  |  reading, language, writing, never stop LEARNING, Olivia Laing

"It's OK to go into hibernation sometimes.  Your friends will understand.  Your freelance gigs will understand.  You're writing a book, you don't need to feel like, 'if I can't balance everything, I'm not good enough."

— Phoebe Robinson

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, novel writing, writing, protect the art, the creative life, Phoebe Robinson

"We're taught that an essay is a document that proves or answers.  I go back to the word's Latin root, which means 'to try.'  Not 'to give an answer,' but 'to try.'  Sometimes an essay offers an answer, but asking questions is just as important.  A good essay promotes conversation."

— Ira Sukrungruang

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, KEEP CREATING, essay, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Ira Sukrungruang

"Be interesting, and be interesting in the first paragraph."

— Hans Hetrick

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, story beginnings, Hans Hetrick

"Stay curious, look for inspiration in everything, and write it down.  You never know when you have a seed that you'll come back to."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  inspiration/the muse, ideas, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, Keith Ehrlich

"Today, there is an over-sharing of our lives. ... I'm not on Facebook and Twitter, and I'm actually a private person.  I don't engage in any social media.  To me, it's really interesting how we negotiate the private life, the private self, and what we make public.  For me, it's easier to make 'art' public than just the day-to-day, blow-by-blow ad nauseam of every day life."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, reaching your audience, design your life, Denise Duhamel

"Fantasy is about the assignment of consciousness and reason.  In fantasy, everything is conscious, or at least potentially conscious—animals, plants, rocks, machines, the wind.  Everything."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, creative freedom, David Gerrold

"Be true to yourself. Find your own voice and be true to that voice. Never take a bad idea, but never turn down a good idea. And, of course, have final cut."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, artist's voice, filmmaking, ideas, creative freedom, David Lynch

"We did lose some shops who only want to carry American-made goods, but we really don't view the world like that.  We feel more like citizens of the world, and we're wary of nationalist leanings.  It has made our brand stronger, improving the quality, but also providing a huge well of inspiration; the colors, textiles, and techniques we've learned in India have expanded our vocabulary greatly."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, culture, artists must EXPERIENCE, creative freedom, never stop LEARNING, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, design

"The short story is usually about one thing. ... I think this is the great relief of the short story."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  short stories, Marcel Theroux

"I know, if you're a writer, you're constantly asked to take positions.  So don't do it without doing your homework."

— Salman Rushdie

for Creatives  |  writing, culture, artist's message, Salman Rushdie, never stop LEARNING

"Don't be pretentious about your writing habits. Don't tell yourself that you'll only write on days when you have three uninterrupted hours to devote to the enterprise. Grab any half-hour you can."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, David James Poissant

"Every story has at least a little truth in it. Every story comes from somewhere." 

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  storytelling, Doug Dorst

"[The author] then speaks in [his work] for all peoples, for the united psyches that overflow with thoughts and feelings that are registered by the wind, giving voice to the private, intimate, yet connected lives of men and women throughout the centuries—so that many people, listening to or reading the [author's work], hear their own inner voices also, and feel the contours of their own natures, and universal nature as well."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, writer-reader relationship, artist's voice, value the art, Jane Roberts

"Someone who gets to college without ever having loved a book is almost a hopeless case."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, books, value the art, Charles Baxter

"While our art cannot, as we wish it could, save us from wars, privation, envy, greed, old age, or death, it can revitalize us amidst it all."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  art, artists, culture, Ray Bradbury, value the art

"How many people could tell you how much money they’ve given to their favourite artists or writers or creators? Not to platforms, not to businesses, to actual creatives?"

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, art, artists, protect the art, value the art, artists supporting artists, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"'You should write every day': that's a terrific idea... in theory.  I should also swim 20 laps every day, mow my lawn twice a month, and grade student papers the moment they're turned in.  But like you, I'm busy and don't do all the things I ought to do when I 'should' do them.  I accept that."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"My experience as a reader is that the category boundaries mean very little." (artist)

— Orson Scott Card (artwork by John Jonik)

for Creatives  |  reading, books, artists, comics, Orson Scott Card, categorization of art, cartoon, drawing/illustration, John Jonik

"Something Ben Stiller had said to me a few years earlier: 'When you're on a film set and you've got to make endless decisions, you have to realise that you can't be worried about people's feelings.'"

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, Steve Coogan, filmmaking, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, Ben Stiller

"Your stories are your world; they're what help you do this thing that you love."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, storytelling, Chuck Wendig

"Your novel lies in your heart; it is a book about today, no matter in which era it is set, written for a contemporary audience to express a story that could only have come from you."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, artist's voice, storytelling, Walter Mosley

"Everything changes when we read."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, value the art

"Despite all of their desire to live by their own lone wolf ways, ironically what amateur writers really want is a recipe. And certainty. And guarantees."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, Shawn Coyne

"The art of storytelling involves a willingness to surrender our idea of the way the story should be told, for the way it actually wants to be told."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, writing, storytelling, Alan Watt

"For me, where genre ends and literature begins doesn't matter. What matters is whether a given novel hits me with high impact. If it does, it probably is fulfilling the purpose of fiction."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  novel writing, literary fiction, writing, genre, categorization of art

"For Lynch … His refusal to interrogate the images, sounds and ideas that make themselves known to him—often during the actual process of shooting—accounts not only for their uniqueness, but also for his occasional inability to articulate their precise meaning.  His desire is to 'speak directly' through the films, combined with a faith in the audience's own eyes and ears."

— Chris Rodley

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, film, reaching your audience, artist's voice, filmmaking, value the art, David Lynch, Chris Rodley

Follow Your Curiosity

"The 'how' of what that process is down there, I have no idea.  All I know is that characters keep emerging, voices keep speaking to me, and I keep writing them down."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  characters, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, Robert Olen Butler, writing, ideas

"The traditional [book publishing] market can be impossible, it can be icy, it can be illogical and downright cruel.  I have seen it knock down oodles of talented writers."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, publishing, Nicki Porter

"[Unlike books devoted to writing,] books written for painters do not imply that the chances are that the reader can never be anything but a conceited dauber, nor do textbooks on engineering start out by warning the student that because he has been able to make a grasshopper out of two rubber bands and a matchstick he is not to think that he is likely ever to be an honor to his chosen profession."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, painting, never stop LEARNING, Dorothea Brande

"Writing novels seems tailor-made for people suffering from bipolar disorder or for roller coaster designers."

— Ted Heller

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, Ted Heller

"I had an offer of a small advance and a traditional contract, which meant someone else paying for the publishing, providing editing, cover art, marketing, all of that. I was sure I'd never get another offer, and I loved the editor I was in contact with, so I took the deal. I learned a lot from that, but I also saw that all the tools for publishing were available to anyone, so I went on my own with the second book. I even went back and acquired the rights to my first novel. I've been self-publishing ever since. Even now, when I have publishers asking for the next thing I write, I choose to self-publish."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, Hugh Howey, never stop LEARNING

"We are often called to go deeper in our writing, but I think we should also move outwards, from the particular to the universal—centrifugally moving bigger, wider, and expansively so."

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  writing, Liz Blood

"What surprised me in my most recent reading?  Original subject matter, plot twists, character quirks, anomalous moments, unusual descriptive language, curious observations, sudden shifts in focus, psychological and emotional truth, the handling of time, and formal changes in approach."

— Debra Spark

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, artist integrity, language, the successful artist, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, Debra Spark

"We are, each of us, a product of the stories we tell ourselves."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  storytelling, Derren Brown

"With its never-ending stream of reboots and sequels, modern culture has heightened the ideal that artists have a duty to capitalize on success."

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  artists, the successful artist, writing, culture, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, filmmaking, Joel Fishbane

"I had the privilege of saying my body was healthy for crying out loud, and ... I should make the most of my time and marvel at all I could and just sit myself down at the desk.  And so I did."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, KEEP CREATING, artists must EXPERIENCE

"Writers are a pretty insecure bunch, but I've never met one who blames their sales on their bad writing."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, J.A. Konrath, writing, reaching your audience, never stop LEARNING

"Most experienced performers will say that they don't get nervous.  I don't get nervous anymore because everything that can be go wrong in my shows has already happened.  I've knocked my table over.  I've had an audience volunteer start crying.  I've had props break.  I've injured myself.  Literally anything that can go wrong has gone wrong, and now I know what to do when it does."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  creative fear, reaching your audience, acting, never stop LEARNING, Ben Hart, performance art, magic/illusion/mentalism

"I hear what I write.  I started writing poetry when I was really young.  I always hear it in my head.  I realized that a lot of people who write about writing don't seem to hear it, don't listen to it, their perception is more theoretical and intellectual.  But if it's happening in your body, if you are hearing what you write, then you can listen for the right cadence, which will help the sentence run clear."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  creative process, language, music, writing, poetry, artists must EXPERIENCE, Ursula K. Le Guin

"Ever since my childhood I always feel someone is standing with me when I work.  It guides and leads me, and criticizes what I have painted.  It calls my attention to the beauty of anything that could be the personification of sensibility.  I am not sure what it is, but it is always there."

— Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

for Creatives  |  creative process, inspiration/the muse, painting, Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

"As a general rule, I won't ever cut anything because I feel it makes me 'look bad' or is personally humiliating.  I am impervious to those considerations.  I lack a sense of personal discretion or protection in my work because I feel like, if this is what I do for a living, I have to do it 100 percent or not at all."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, writing, editing, feedback/criticism/rejection, Augusten Burroughs

"It may take weeks or months to research an investigative story for television, I can write the script in one day.  If pressed, I could write the script in an hour.  But there is no way I could write a novel in any less time than, say, nine months.  No matter how much pressure there is. ... It is much more layered, textured, complicated.  And it is all from my imagination."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  creative process, novel writing, writing, TV writing, Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Conflicting feelings snare readers. They're a puzzle that demands solution, a cognitive dissonance that's too noisy to ignore."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass

"It makes them happy to give [lifetime achievement awards] to me. And they go out in the shed, but the people don't know that."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  awards, create for YOURSELF, the successful artist, writing, Stephen King

"It's good to go a little crazy every once in a while.  Keeps the reader off balance."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, creative freedom, Stewart O'Nan

"As we read [essays], we participate in the writer's attempt to find what he or she didn't know when first coming to the page."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  nonfiction, writing, essay, writer-reader relationship, Lee Martin

"We want to see the hard choices and we want to see where they lead for your characters. None of us can go back in time and change difficult decisions we've made in our lives. So we go to Story to evaluate whether or not we made the right choice. We either find comfort from stories that show us that we've done the right thing. Or on the other side, when we make a mistake, in a Story we get to experience the path of a different course. Risk Free! A new map to help us find our courage. We go to Story to experience life at the edge, where we've been shaken in our boots in our own lives. This is what stories are for…to reassure us that we've made the right decision in our own lives or to help us recognize our mistakes, learn from them and find the courage to change."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, artists must EXPERIENCE, value the art, Shawn Coyne

"I take a certain amount of godlike pleasure in toying with readers and sort of rubbing my hands and going, 'They're never going to figure this one out.'"

— Scott Turow

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, Scott Turow

"If you do something peculiar and remarkable it might not be for mass consumption in your own country but there are 7 billion people in the world. People everywhere in the world will recognize and appreciate its innovation. A world cult is many times bigger than a single country's mainstream hit. So in the long run, being different can make commercial sense as well as artistic sense."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Ricky Gervais, creative freedom

"Fiction starts as speculation.  Writers don't go to the obvious speculation."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  writing, Brian Evenson

"That is something that I learned from Virginia Woolf, who talks about it most wonderfully in a letter to her friend Vita.  Style, she says, is rhythm—'the wave in the mind'—the wave, the rhythm, are there before the words, and bring the words to fit it."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  language, writing, artist's voice, Ursula K. Le Guin, Virginia Woolf

"Doing is being.

To have done's not enough;

To stuff yourself with doing—that's the game.

To name yourself each hour by what's done,

To tabulate your time at sunset's gun

And find yourself in acts

You could not know before the facts"

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, poetry, KEEP CREATING, Ray Bradbury

"Writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, Steve Scott

"All writing is great training for writing.  Of course one learns specific things writing in a specific genre, and some of those skills carry over from one form to another."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  writing, genre, never stop LEARNING, Junot Díaz

"I think that ideas exist outside of ourselves. I think somewhere, we're all connected off in some very abstract land. But somewhere between there and here ideas exist. And I think the mind isn't conscious enough to go all the way to where we're connected, but it's conscious of a certain amount of that territory. And when these ideas fly into the conscious part, then you can capture them. But if they're outside of the conscious part, you don't even know about them. So you just hope that you can make the conscious part of your mind bigger or that these ideas will fly into your airspace, so you can shoot them down and grab them and take them home. So that's all you try to do. Sometimes an idea will strike you when you're sitting in a quiet chair. But sometimes an idea will strike you when you're standing. Sometimes music will also help you. If I thought I could just sit still in a quiet place and get ideas, I would do that all the time, but sometimes nothing happens. There's no rhyme or reason to it. But you've got to write them down right away. I forget so many things. Then if I forget it and try to remember it, my whole day is ruined because I can't remember and I feel horrible. And I imagine that it was one of the all time great ideas. And it probably isn't."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, music, ideas, David Lynch

"Not only am I rarely creatively satisfied, but satisfaction comes with small victories.  There's usually more frustration than applause or happiness."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, KEEP CREATING, filmmaking, feedback/criticism/rejection, Keith Ehrlich

"There is no way [writing] students are going to get better without reading.  You must know who your literary parents are and who your grandparents are."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, never stop LEARNING, Denise Duhamel

"Almost all fantasy relies on personification—that is, whatever happens in a fantasy, there is an anthropomorphic reason, a causative agency."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, writing, David Gerrold

"Whether it's through an Instagram post or documentary film, the heart of the mission is constant: our job is to tell a story.  I'm eager to see what other avenues open up to tell those stories."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  photography, reaching your audience, documentary, filmmaking, storytelling, Eric Ryan Anderson

"I realized early on that you can really elevate your surroundings in the decisions you make concerning decor, clothing, etcetera.  Design is the key to all of that."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  Samantha Pleet, fashion design, design

"Your job [as an actor] is to create an interesting, captivating character that serves the text.  That's it."

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  characters, Bryan Cranston, filmmaking, acting

"Writing is like having a baby. If you wait until you can afford to spare the time, you'll never do it."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, the creative life, David James Poissant

"I think that the short story has a tendency to prove people who pronounce [negatively] on it foolish."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  short stories, feedback/criticism/rejection, Marcel Theroux

"There are gasps and shouts, even some violinistic cries. He has sent several people scurrying to the woods in fear, which is unfortunate, but it is the sort of thing that happens when one finds the words that truly come from within oneself."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, feedback/criticism/rejection, Doug Dorst

"Every story ever told really happened."

— Steven Moffat

for Creatives  |  storytelling, Steven Moffat

"[You] tried to use an assembly-line kind of time for your creative productivity. This may work when manuscripts are being typed, and so much physical labor is involved, but overall you are using the 'wrong' approach to time, particularly for any creative artist."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  creative process, artists, creativity, writing, the creative life, creative freedom, design your life, Jane Roberts

"Sometimes some songs take years to get right. You do it and you just know it's not right and you can't get it right so you leave it. I think you can only do your best with it and sometimes your best isn't good enough. At which point you have to give it a rest. Because then you start doing really strange things to it. And when it starts going that far astray it's time to go away from it."

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  music, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Lou Reed

"You need to hit teens right between the eyes with a good book; they'll never get over it."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, books, YA, value the art, Charles Baxter

"When you ask a science fiction question, the first thing you have to do is root it in reality; you have to explain to yourself why it's possible, so you can believe in it yourself."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, writing, David Gerrold

"Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.  Plot is observed after the fact rather than before.  It cannot precede action.  It is the chart that remains when an action is through.  That is all Plot ever should be.  It is human desire let run, running, and reach a goal.  It cannot be mechanical.  It can only be dynamic."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  characters, intuitive writing & pantsing, pantsing vs. plotting, writing, creating in the moment, Ray Bradbury

"Sometimes, in our creative frenzy, we were not even conscious of what we were writing."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, creating in the moment, Alan Watt

"If you tell people you're an artist, they'll tell you that’s not much of a career path and you should get a real job.  If you tell people you're building a tech startup platform for artists, they'll be impressed and want to hear more."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  artists, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, your passion vs. the day job, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"If you're truly worried about sounding too much like a specific author, read outside of your genre when you're writing."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, artist's voice, genre, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"All these [sf genre] magazines pride themselves on publishing stories from new writers. What doesn't get told quite as often is that they survive by discovering new writers."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, writing, publishing, editors, artists supporting artists, magazines, Orson Scott Card

"Like Cliffhanger.  More people have seen how they did the helicopter shot in that than people have seen the movie!  Magicians keep their secrets to themselves.  And they know that as soon as they tell, someone will say, 'Are you kidding me?  That's so simple."  It's horrifying to me, that they do that.  People don't realize it, but as soon as they hear or see that, something dies inside them.  They're deader than they were.  They're not, like, happy to know about this stuff.  They're happy not to know about it.  And they shouldn't know about it.  It's nothing to do with the film!  And will only ruin the film!  Why would they talk about it?"

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, film, action, reaching your audience, filmmaking, value the art, magic/illusion/mentalism, David Lynch

"There are also amazing highs; a fantastic piece of dialogue, a great idea, a shot that really works.  You have to hang on to those moments and learn to push the anxiety away."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, creative fear, Steve Coogan, filmmaking

"The thing to remember is all must be subservient to the content. Be generative. Create. All else is slave to that; your writing is not slave to anything."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, Chuck Wendig

"You will not become a writer by aping the tones and phrases, form and content, of great books of the past."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, Walter Mosley

"The more you read, the more nuggets you file away, the more gold in your stores, the richer your writing will be."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, value the art, Nicki Porter, never stop LEARNING

"It's not one-to-one: you can't say that a literate society has no criminality. But there are very real correlations."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, culture, value the art

"The best way to learn whether your Story is reaching people is to tally the number of them willing to part with their hard-earned cash to experience your work."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, storytelling, value the art, Shawn Coyne

"We never want to force our story into our idea of how it should be structured. Our original impulse was valid. We can trust it and return to it over and over again, even as the story continues to be reshaped."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, pantsing vs. plotting, writing, creating in the moment, Alan Watt

"It's the darker things I find really beautiful.  I guess I haven't learned to paint the lighter parts of life in a way that's pleasing to me, although I think it can be done—Rousseau does it, and so does Richard Diebenkorn." (artist)

— David Lynch (artwork by Henri Rousseau)

for Creatives  |  painting, never stop LEARNING, David Lynch, Henri Rousseau, Richard Diebenkorn

"At genre conventions the debate over genre boundaries is almost a sport. Only two conclusions seem to me certain: Genre writers don't get enough respect, and when they do they don't get much respect from genre writers."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, genre, value the art, Donald Maass, categorization of art

"Artists are not intellectuals.  We are sensualists, we are ravenous for life."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  artists, Robert Olen Butler, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life

"The antihero is always going to come back because it's an easy crutch.  It also appeals to people in the film business.  Especially the film business, because it's an immoral business."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  characters, artist integrity, writing, filmmaking, Jonathan Kellerman

"It's like the Japanese with the garden.  Nature is doing all this stuff, and all they do is maybe take a branch and trim it, impose their will on it, and make it grow a certain way.  And they prune, and they keep certain things out.  But the plants are doing most of the work.  It's a two-way street–nature and man working together.  And in painting, the paint has got a texture and it sort of wants to be a certain way.  And a brush is so artificial, and it makes tiny little lines.  After you make a whole bunch of brush strokes, it's something else.  It's not the paint talking, it's too much of the person.  So you've gotta let accidents and strange things happen—let it work, so it's got an organic sort of quality."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, nature, Japanese, artist in the art, creating in the moment, painting, David Lynch

"Stand aside, forget targets, let the characters, your fingers, body, blood, and heart do."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  characters, intuitive writing & pantsing, create for YOURSELF, writing, creating in the moment, Ray Bradbury, creative freedom

"Fantasy looks like the abandonment of the laws of science. ... That's what it looks like.  Dig deeper.  Like science fiction, fantasy also starts out with an if."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, David Gerrold

"Life would be perfect if I had hours each day to read for fun.  In truth, most of the books I read are within my own genre.  I need to stay up-to-date on the books being published in children's fiction in order to be able to come up with books my publisher will buy.  That's my first priority.  When I read for fun, usually it's in audiobook format, and I'm almost exclusively listening to books written by those who are much more accomplished than I am." 

— Stephanie Faris

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, writing for children, publishing, genre, never stop LEARNING, Stephanie Faris, audio books

"To pretend self-publishing is never the right option, and that all writers who self-publish are talentless hacks who slap a book together and call it art?  Friends, that is dangerously close-minded thinking."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  publishing, feedback/criticism/rejection, Nicki Porter

"Sharon Olds said that if you write down something and put it out into the world, it's a little murder.  It just is.  If you write down something and you put it in a drawer, it's a little suicide."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Sharon Olds, TAKE RISKS, Denise Duhamel

"An idea I was exposed to in art school: it's adamant that you enjoy the process more than the end product.  And that rule applies to all the arts, because we're fickle people."

— Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, music, the creative life, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), formal arts education

"What narrative teaches us about characterization: we are all made up of contradictions, and, as a result, we are all somewhat unknowable.  We are capable of surprise precisely because of this fact."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  characters, literary fiction, Lee Martin

"Open book after book devoted to the writer's problems: in nine cases out of ten you will find, well toward the front of the volume, some very gloomy paragraphs warning you that you may be no writer at all, that you probably lack taste, judgment, imagination, and every trace of the special abilities necessary to turn yourself from an aspirant into an artist, or even into a passable craftsman.  You are likely to hear that your desire to write is perhaps only an infantile exhibitionism, or to be warned that because your friends think you a great writer (as if they ever did!) the world cannot be expected to share that fond opinion.  And so on, most tiresomely.  The reasons for this pessimism about young writers are dark to me."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, Dorothea Brande

"I love magic tricks.  But the reason I like them so much is because it's possible to change the way someone thinks about the world through a magic trick.  It is possible to do that through other art forms, too, but it's not so immediate."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  value the art, Ben Hart, magic/illusion/mentalism

"Judgment by genre is just wrong—stupid, wasteful.  Most people know that now."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  genre, Ursula K. Le Guin, categorization of art

"Save up and invest in your work. Pay yourself a dollar for every 500 words you write. Set that aside, and you'll have enough to publish your book when you're done with it."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, publishing, word count, value the art, Hugh Howey

"Much like the mind of its maker or of any human being, the essay is mutable and free flowing, wandering and multifaceted, and surprising in the connections it makes.  These surprises cause the reader to feel as if she is inside the mind of the writer, following his thoughts as they spin and swivel, pivot and progress.  Its nature is personal, born of individual emotions, reasoning, and affectations that give it heart and humanity.  Essays, whether we oblige or not, welcome us into their arms."

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, essay, writer-reader relationship, Liz Blood

"To this day, the Slow Food movement wants diners and chefs to challenge themselves by taking their time and making every meal a hedonistic experience.  Should we ask any less from ourselves as writers—or from those who choose to read what we make?"

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  food, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Joel Fishbane

"Yes, absolutely it has to surprise us.  Surprise is the very basis of art.  Isn't it?"

— Debra Spark

for Creatives  |  art, writer-reader relationship, Debra Spark

"If magic exploits our capacity to continuously, unconsciously modify events in the ongoing world to form a story, even at the expense of everything we know to be possible in the universe, then we are indeed master editors, tirelessly working to communicate to others and ourselves a meaningful tale."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, reaching your audience, editors, storytelling, magic/illusion/mentalism, Derren Brown

"I often start something and have no idea how it'll end.  The sense of surprise there, to me, is like magic every time." 

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, poetry, creating in the moment, story endings, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"One of the benefits I get from doing [book] covers is, I get to read.  The main thing I like about what I do is that I'm away from reality and the real world where I live, in a make believe one—a land of someone else's imagination—as long as the project lasts.  I need that to survive." (artist)

— Kinukoy Yamabe Craft (artwork by Charlotte Bird)

for Creatives  |  reading, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, artists, fantasy, painting, Kinukoy Yamabe Craft, Charlotte Bird

"Hemingway said that stories are never finished, they're simply due."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  J.A. Konrath, writing, storytelling, Ernest Hemingway

"The key for me in writing character is finding out who are the most important people in my characters' lives, and what they wish they could make clear to them."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, Stewart O'Nan

"The practice of writing is a kind of self-instruction that no number of writing workshops can teach you.  You have to learn how to do it yourself.  The writing makes you a writer, it builds your discipline, enhances your talent, and draws froth the reserves of your character."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Viet Thanh Nguyen, formal arts education, writing workshops

"I don't think one has to have a 'dysfunctional childhood' in order to write a fascinating memoir, but there definitely needs to be something.  And that 'something' could even be a gift for the observation of tiny, daily life."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, memoir, Augusten Burroughs

"News stories are compelling mysteries.  Life is a compelling mystery.  The key of a compelling mystery is—as it is in journalism—to constantly advance the story.  No tangents, no digressions, no fancy tricked-up writing. Just a straight-ahead and irresistible tale."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  mystery, writing, storytelling, magazines, Hank Phillippi Ryan

"I sit down maybe at quarter past eight in the morning and I work until quarter to twelve and for that period of time, everything is real. And then it just clicks off. I think I probably write about twelve hundred to fifteen hundred words. It's six pages. I want to get six pages into hard copy."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  writing, word count, Stephen King, the creative life

"I don't like formulas.  I don't like novels where I know the ending halfway through."

— Scott Turow

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, create for YOURSELF, pantsing vs. plotting, novel writing, writing, story endings, Scott Turow

"The writer who wants to tap the larger truth in himself must reflect the temptations of Joyce or Camus or Tennessee Williams, as exhibited in the literary reviews.  He must forget the money waiting for him in mass-circulation.  He must ask himself, 'What do I really think of the world, what do I love, fear, hate?' and begin to pour this on paper." (artist)

— Ray Bradbury (artwork by Fran Haley)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, art, artists, writing, reviews, Ray Bradbury, painting, Albert Camus, James Joyce, Fran Haley, Tennessee Williams

"The broadest, most inoffensive, mainstream hits are so often the least 'talked about.' They just happen and wash over a disconcerting majority once a week. Again, this is fine if you just want commercial success but it's soul destroying if you have loftier ambitions."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, TV series, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Ricky Gervais, feedback/criticism/rejection, TV writing, break the rules, TAKE RISKS

"One of the reasons a lot of us read fiction—including me—is that we respond to characters in fiction as if we are responding to people.  We can have intense reactions to them.  We can enjoy them as people."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, literary fiction, Brian Evenson

"As you create your story, it takes on a reality of its own—and as you explore its workings, you metamorphose.  Your thinking changes, your perceptions shift, you become a different person: You become the kind of person who can tell this story from the inside.  If you succeed, then the way you describe events and places and characters will be as a resident would describe it, and it will feel to the reader as if you've been there yourself."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, David Gerrold

"You can tell without even reading if the book you've chosen is apt to be easy or hard, right? Easy books contain lots of short paragraphs—including dialogue paragraphs which may only be a word or two long—and lots of white space. They're as airy as Dairy Queen ice cream cones. Hard books, ones full of ideas, narration, or description, have a stouter look. A packed look. Paragraphs are almost as important for how they look as for what they say; they are maps of intent."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, Stephen King

"Want to come up with great book ideas? Looking to improve your writing skills? Hoping to turn your writing into a profitable business? Then be a reader!"

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  reading, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, ideas, never stop LEARNING, Steve Scott

"I can spend weeks without mentioning to anyone that I'm a writer.  I'm a minority these days, but I'm not certain it's a good thing for writers to spend a lot of time with other writers.  Solidarity and community are essential—I am not arguing against either—but when the majority of your friends are writers ... that seems to work for a lot of people, but that shit's just not for me."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, artists supporting artists, never stop LEARNING, Junot Díaz

"You're very fortunate if you have a partner who understands what you do and who works with you through the struggle of making and wanting to make."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artists, filmmaking, the creative life, artists supporting artists, Keith Ehrlich

"To give a sense of place, to me, is a thrilling thing. And a sense of place is made up of details. And so the details are incredibly important. If they're wrong, then it throws you out of the mood. And so the sound and music and color and shape and texture, if all those things are correct and a woman looks a certain way with a certain kind of light and says the right word, you're gone, you're in heaven. But it's all the little details."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  art, reaching your audience, filmmaking, David Lynch

"More than ever I see still and moving images becoming one and the same.  Having experience and vision in both mediums will be crucial for most people over the coming years."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  photography, filmmaking, never stop LEARNING, Eric Ryan Anderson

"I'm constantly taking risks to move forward.  I believe that you have to go for what you want and figure the rest out later.  That's a good way of looking at the world: do what you feel is the best thing to move you forward, and don't let potential future pitfalls hold you back.  You can cross those bridges when you get there—everything will work itself out."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, the creative life, design your life, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, TAKE RISKS

"You need life experience. ... You can't tell someone how to think and feel in it, you have to be in it."

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  Bryan Cranston, artists must EXPERIENCE, acting

"Francis Bacon is, to me, the main guy, the number one kinda hero painter.  There's a lot of painters that I like.  But for just the thrill of standing in front of a painting… I saw Bacon's show in the sixties at the Marlborough Gallery and it was really one of the most powerful things I ever saw in my life." (artist)

— David Lynch (artwork by Francis Bacon)

for Creatives  |  artists, artist in the art, reaching your audience, value the art, painting, David Lynch, Francis Bacon

"It's always about execution. If I told you that I was going to write a story about a man who wakes up and finds he has turned into a beetle, there's a good chance you'd think it was a stupid idea. But Kafka has the power to make that not only a good story, but one that's actually shaped the way we think about short stories. ... Part of the answer is something about conviction, something about summoning the authority."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, short stories, writing, storytelling, ideas, Franz Kafka, Marcel Theroux

"Write. Write when you can, as much as you can. ... Write every day."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, David James Poissant

"[He] was not just a storyteller, he was a story. And story is resilient, protean, eternal."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, storytelling, Doug Dorst

"It's easy to be fooled into thinking there's a magic program, a specific path that only others know about, or a unique but mysterious road that you should take with a set number of steps to reach your dreams.  Nonsense.  You decide when.  You decide how."

— Jordan Rosenfeld

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, the successful artist, the creative life, design your life, break the rules, Jordan Rosenfeld

"Expression is a necessity of life. ... Each person feels that drive."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  art, artists, creativity, the creative life, Jane Roberts

"I took a stance [with my art] about a couple of things. I thought I'd earned the right; that I knew enough about Life at this point, and had gone through enough where I thought stating an opinion about a thing or two would not be soapboxy or preachy but was just hard-won experience trying to communicate to other people."

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  music, reaching your audience, artists must EXPERIENCE, artist's message, creative freedom, Lou Reed

"The teaching of poetry has almost disappeared from the curricula of many English departments, and the AWP conferences have become a refuge for people who want to talk about poetry."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, poetry, Charles Baxter, formal arts education, writing conferences

"Drawing was very therapeutic for me.  It has always been an outlet for me to stay away from the tougher parts of life."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, value the art, Jon Contino, drawing/illustration

"Nicki Minaj, for example, has 77,000,000 Instagram followers consuming her free social content. 77,000,000 followers, and her last album sold 800,000 copies.  That means that barely 1% of her followers actually purchased an album. The rest? Streaming it, YouTubing it, just following without buying.  If a mega star like Nicki Minaj has a conversion rate that low for actual sales, what does that mean for indie creators?"

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  music, reaching your audience, value the art, Jon Westenberg, Nicki Minaj

Follow Your Curiosity

"The claim some young writer makes each semester to me [is] that they don't want to read the writing of anyone else because it might damage their own creativity and squelch their voice.  Hard to believe, I realize, but I get myopic Kurt Vonnegut wannabes in my classes all the time. ... Reading helps [writers] find their own voice."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  reading, creativity, writing, artist's voice, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"That doesn't mean I'll just do whatever it takes to be paid. Especially not something like abandoning my professional standards, because that would throw the rest of my life out of balance."

— Banana Yoshimoto

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, the creative life, value the art, design your life, Banana Yoshimoto

"The Art Spirit that sort of became my Bible, because that book made the rules for the art life.  It was one of those things that is so fantastic, because it sets you on your way."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  books, creative process, art, artists, nonfiction, the creative life, painting, David Lynch, Robert Henri

Follow Your Curiosity

"Fantasy is not the abandonment of logic.  It is the reinvention of it.  A believable fantasy is the creation of an alternate structure of logic."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, writing, David Gerrold

"Everywhere we look: problems.  Everywhere we further look: solutions.  The children of men, the children of time, how can they not be fascinated with these challenges?  Thus: science fiction and its recent history."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, writing, Ray Bradbury

"New writers are, if anything, even more welcome in the magazines. The appetite for new writers in the field of speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy) is still enormous. If you write competently and if your story has any spark of life, you will sell it."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, reaching your audience, magazines, Orson Scott Card

"Creating music comes from a place of complete subjectivity, and that's the way it should be.  It starts from a place of having to be so in touch with yourself, your emotions, your perspective.  And there's a satisfaction that comes out of creating, which I think is selfish, but not in a negative way.  What you then do with the influence you may gain from putting that into the world is where you can really contribute to something beyond yourself."

— Tei Shi

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, music, value the art, Tei Shi

"There are no rules.  The creative process is as mysterious and as personal as each of us. "

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, artists, Alan Watt, break the rules

"Not everyone in the movie business can do comedy; certainly not everyone understands it."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  comedy, Steve Coogan, filmmaking

"Sometimes even still you get that look, as if the person listening is thinking, oh, you're one of THOSE. Here's a radical notion, then: get shut of the term 'self-published.' Forget 'indie.' Forget 'DIY.' Just be an author when you're being an author. Just be a publisher when you're being a publisher. (Or, go with a term I quite like, 'author-publisher.') People ask you what you do, you write books. People ask who you're published with, give them the name of your one-man publishing company. Or say, 'I did that shit myself.'"

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, publishing, Chuck Wendig

"That's what it’s like when you're creating things. On the one hand, it really seems like you're keeping it all moving on your own, and you can tell yourself that you've got inspiration raining down on you, but ultimately you can't make anything happen on your own."

— Banana Yoshimoto

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating in the moment, inspiration/the muse, painting, Banana Yoshimoto

"Give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers."

— Neil Gaiman (photo by author Emily Jiang)

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, culture, value the art, Emily Jiang

Follow Your Curiosity

"Our social moorings aren't the only things that restrain our creative impulses. We are also limited by false aesthetics: those notions that we have developed in schools and libraries, and from listening to critics that adhere to some misplaced notion of a literary canon."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, culture, feedback/criticism/rejection, creative freedom, libraries, Walter Mosley, break the rules, formal arts education, TAKE RISKS

"Here's a difficult concept to grasp and I'm sure I'll go to my grave trying to explain it. Just because a book becomes a bestseller doesn't make it something to emulate. There are a myriad of reasons why some books become bestsellers and still don't work as Stories."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, the successful artist, reaching your audience, storytelling, Shawn Coyne

"The same way that a photographer is not fully conscious of why she snaps the picture, there is a similar experience for writers. We are attempting to capture something on the page, a fleeting thought, an experience that we can not quite articulate, an idea that we do not quite understand, and by placing these moments in the context of a story, these experiences can be transmitted to our reader as something larger than we are, something beyond our limited understanding."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, photography, writing, creating in the moment, writer-reader relationship, ideas, artists must EXPERIENCE, Alan Watt

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy

(written by Orson Scott Card)

for Creatives  |  books, sci-fi, fantasy, nonfiction, writing, writer-reader relationship, genre, Orson Scott Card

Follow Your Curiosity

"Today, genre bending and blending is more the rule than the exception."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, genre, Donald Maass, categorization of art

"They are in the zone, and that means they are not thinking at all. [Athletes] call it muscle memory. But for you [the artist], it's not muscle memory; it's dream space, it's sense memory."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, artists, Robert Olen Butler, writing, creating in the moment, sport

"'Don't read other authors while you're writing, or you'll end up sounding just like them.'  IF this were true, everyone would be reading Stephen King while writing their horror novels and we'd have oodles of people making 8 gazillion dollars because they sound a lot like Stephen King."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  reading, creative process, writing, artist's voice, Stephen King, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"When I drew, I lost myself in it and stopped thinking about everything else; it was like creating another world for myself, a world with the things I wanted to see and do.  Thank God I had that."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  creating in the moment, the creative life, value the art, Jon Contino, drawing/illustration

"When I perform my day job as a kind of magician, I work with people's capacity to fool themselves with stories."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  storytelling, magic/illusion/mentalism, Derren Brown

"People don't want to pay for content. They want to consume it for free, or monetise it for themselves. There's never been a greater sense of people feeling entitled to your creative work than there is right now.  And in that entitlement, respect for creative work is vanishing."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, creativity, writer-reader relationship, the creative life, value the art, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"I don't write for anyone else, but I'm aware of the fact—once I go to editing and polishing—that I'm asking people to shell out their hard-earned money."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, reaching your audience, Jonathan Kellerman

"You should always try your hardest. The Office was the first thing I really tried my hardest at. I don't know why I started this radical new approach then, but I think it was one of those carpe diem type revelations. I came into the industry with a slightly older head on my shoulders than most and maybe deep down knew I shouldn't blow the opportunity. I put everything into it. A lifetime of experiences, and I couldn't have been prouder of the results. I don't even mean the success of the show, but simply the finished product. I was the laziest man in the world before I made The Office but now I'm addicted to that sort of success. Pride in my work. Now I'm a workaholic, because I realize that the hard work is sort of a reward in itself."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, TV series, British, comedy, the successful artist, writing, Ricky Gervais, artists must EXPERIENCE, comedy writing

Follow Your Curiosity

"I always thought the ideal would be to write a novel that would be equally appealing to ... a bus driver and an English professor."

— Scott Turow

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, Scott Turow

"Few aspiring authors want a truly honest critique, especially if that critique advises them to toss their work in progress into the recycle bin and find another creative outlet.  That puts the reader in the unenviable position of trying to find nice things to say even when a manuscript is completely unsalvageable."

— Stephanie Faris

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, writer-reader relationship, feedback/criticism/rejection, Stephanie Faris

"I believe every story leaves some small impact on the reader.  Perhaps it's as small as a turn of phrase you unconsciously file away, a new word you hadn't heard before.  But something, some thread of it sneaks its way into your cranial blueprint and fiddles with the math a bit.  You may look the same, act the same, seem the same, but some microscopic part of your makeup is different."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  reading, storytelling, value the art, Nicki Porter

"With poetry in particular, I just feel like Mother Nature is the best creator of metaphor on the planet." (artist)

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil (artwork by Josephine Wall)

for Creatives  |  nature, art, artists, language, writing, poetry, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"You have to balance doing what you want with make a buck, which is hard.  But if you do what you love and keep that as a goal in your work, you'll find that people will eventually come to you for it.  Instead of you going to them for money, they'll come to you with money and hire you for who you are."

— Clayton Cubitt

for Creatives  |  photography, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, the successful artist, reaching your audience, value the art, your passion vs. the day job, Clayton Cubitt

"Your only real responsibility as an artist is to get lost in and follow your obsessions as far as they go, because anything besides that is copying someone else or doing something that's not true to yourself."

— Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, artists, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), TAKE RISKS

"A teacher of mine used to say that a good short story led to a moment of surprise, which he defined as more truth than we think we have a right to expect."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, Lee Martin, story endings

"Ten years ago a friend loaned me Parable of the Sower and it completely changed my life.  It caused me to view art, sci-fi, and literature in completely new ways.  I was very moved by the way Butler was able to seamlessly weave in heavy subject matters as race, gender, and class without ever compromising the integrity of the sci-fi."

— Paul Lewin

for Creatives  |  reading, books, artist integrity, art, sci-fi, writing, culture, value the art, Octavia E. Butler, Paul Lewin

Follow Your Curiosity

"There are poems you write that are so on the edge they could go either way, especially when you take a very big risk."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, poetry, creating in the moment, TAKE RISKS, Denise Duhamel

[The student writer] only vaguely knows that successful writers have overcome the difficulties which seem almost insuperable to him; he believes that accepted authors have some magic, or at the very lowest, some trade secret, which, if he is alert and attentive, he may surprise.  He suspects, further, that the teacher who offers his services knows that magic, and may drop a word about it which will prove an ['Open, Says Me'] to him.  In the hope of hearing it, or surprising it, he will sit doggedly through a series of instructions in story types and plot forming and technical problems which have no relation to his own dilemma.  He will buy or borrow every book with 'fiction' in the title; he will read any symposium by authors in which they tell their methods of work.  In almost every case, he will be disappointed.

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, magic/mystery of creating/art, the successful artist, writing, never stop LEARNING, formal arts education, Dorothea Brande

"What young writers always talk about—'finding your voice'—well, you can't find your own voice if you aren't listening for it.  The sound of your writing is an essential part of what it's doing.  Our teaching of writing tends to ignore it, except maybe in poetry.  And so we get prose that goes 'clunk, clunk, clunk.'  And we don't know what's wrong with it."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, artist's voice, Ursula K. Le Guin

"Real storytelling happens when writers forget the 'rule book' and write to the characters. They get inside the people in the story and experience the sights, the sounds, the smells, the emotions, and they let the reactions of the characters drive the incidents of the story."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  characters, intuitive writing & pantsing, writing, creating in the moment, storytelling, David Gerrold, break the rules

"The biggest [advantage in self-publishing] for me is the freedom to write what I want when I want. I can jump genres and write several novels a year. Traditional publishing is much too restrictive. I don't want to pump out the same book over and over. I want to challenge myself and produce the work that I feel is missing from the marketplace."

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, novel writing, KEEP CREATING, publishing, genre, Hugh Howey, creative freedom, never stop LEARNING

"The performers who fall into obscurity are the ones who don't take risks."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, Ben Hart, performance art, magic/illusion/mentalism, TAKE RISKS

"Call it whatever you like—spirit, soul, psyche, personality, ego, unified field, inner being.  It is somewhere intangible, not physical, from whence these creations come.  Yet, by being put down on paper—letters into words, words into paragraphs, paragraphs into an essay—they join the physical realm."

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, language, creativity, writing, essay, ideas, Liz Blood

"That's where drawing came in; creativity kept me from seeing the reality of how terrible things were." (artist)

— Jon Contino (artwork by Kevin Serad)

for Creatives  |  art, artists, creativity, value the art, Jon Contino, drawing/illustration, Kevin Serad

"Charles McGrath wrote in The New York Times about his experience of being a judge for the National Book Awards. ... He didn't entirely enjoy the task.  The title of his article was 'Caution: Reading Can Be Hazardous.'  Of the numerous volumes he had to read, he wrote, 'There were moments when I began to doubt the whole enterprise of fiction writing itself.  Does the world really need hundreds and hundreds of new novels or story collections every year, especially when so many of them are so similar?  Eventually, I had trouble keeping all the stories straight, and in my mind—and even in my dreams occasionally—the book overlapped, with couples failing to understand each other over and over again, and families endlessly dumping their woes onto the next generation.'  McGrath's frustration here would seem to be about subject matter.  Why always the oh-so-familiar psychology of couples and families?"

— Debra Spark

for Creatives  |  reading, books, awards, artist integrity, short stories, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, artist's voice, Debra Spark, Charles McGrath

"Today's writer is expected to craft an online identity while churning out everything from literary snacks to full-course feasts that threaten to be labeled TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read).  It's an exhausting scenario and, to compensate, many writers resort to templates that allow them to ape what has come before."

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, Joel Fishbane

"Graphic novels!  These books reach readers no other books can.  They're opening the doors of verbal literacy for visual learners and helping strong verbal readers become visually literate.  I LOVE them."

— Shannon Hale

for Creatives  |  reading, graphic novels, Neil Gaiman, reaching your audience, value the art, Shannon Hale

Follow Your Curiosity

"The surprise of what you'll find after rendering an image and how different if often comes out is the exact same thing I love about writing poems."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, writing, poetry, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, drawing/illustration

"I don't think that we can minimize the value of what happens when we normalize, through entertainment, other cultures and orientations."

— John Ridley

for Creatives  |  characters, culture, filmmaking, artist's message, value the art, John Ridley

"I'm interested in transformation.  I'll take something that was fragile and delicate and transform it into something that is durable and rigid.  There is always this aspect for me of transcendence—something shifting, something changing."

— Jeff Koons

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, artist's voice, Jeff Koons

"Some of my favorite directors of the 1970s became rich and famous and lost touch with other human beings not like themselves.  [With social media,] I can now maintain a connection to other people, not just in the U.S. but all over the world.  It allows me insight into someone who's 15 in Thailand."

— James Gunn

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, filmmaking, never stop LEARNING, James Gunn

"Although technology saves us time, it takes away mental space. Back when we had to do more tasks by hand, these tasks took longer to do, and while we did them, we had more time to think, daydream, or not-think."

— Martin Boroson

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, gadgets, Martin Boroson, creativity, creating in the moment, the creative life, creative freedom

"I don't want to release something I don't think is ready. I feel I have one chance to hook readers, so I should show them my best."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  J.A. Konrath, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, editing

"The further you get into a book—the longer you live with a character—the more you realize that nobody's regular, nobody's average.  Everyone's life is incredibly complex."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  reading, books, characters, culture, Stewart O'Nan

"Across genres, for one reason or another, various filmmakers—sometimes even those considered the most visual of directors—have drawn on devices dating back 2,500 years to the days of Hellenic theater because there are limitations to showing; showing can't always get us inside a character, or inside a character's story."

— Bill Mesce, Jr.

for Creatives  |  characters, film, filmmaking, genre, Bill Mesce, Jr.

"The most powerful weapon in writing is love."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  writing, Steve Coogan, artist's message, value the art

"Plan for the long haul.  If you're extremely talented and lucky, you'll be famous in a few years.  Most of us, including me, are neither that talented nor lucky."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Viet Thanh Nguyen

"Every painting I've produced falls short of my expectations.  They are my children, but they're all juvenile delinquents.  I'm not proud of them."

— Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, creative fear, KEEP CREATING, painting, Kinukoy Yamabe Craft

"Memoir is not court stenography.  But neither should it be fiction."

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, nonfiction, writing, memoir, Augusten Burroughs

"When an audience is so massive, do people even know why I write or what it means?'

— Sharon Van Etten

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, music, writing, reaching your audience, artist's message, Sharon Van Etten

"In learning how to tell a story, and learning how to develop my craft and skill as a storyteller, nothing could have been better practice than investigative journalism. ... From the standpoint of keeping the reader/viewer interested, and being riveting, suspenseful, educational, and entertaining, it's the same thing.  Choosing exactly the right word, choosing exactly the right sound bit or dialogue, making sure the setting is vibrant and that the conclusion is life-changing.  That's exactly the same."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, Hank Phillippi Ryan

"When I wrote it, it was all just there for me. You just take it. Everything just fits together like it existed before."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, creating in the moment, Stephen King

"Be a cocky little nobody. But work hard, be original and write about what you know."

— Ricky Gervais

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Ricky Gervais, comedy writing

"Fantasy is the most basic and longest-lived genre.  Shakespeare wrote fantasy.  Gilgamesh was fantasy.  The stories so important that they were passed down from mothers to daughters for millennia without being written down were fantasy.  The advantage of fantasy is that a reader can insert themselves and their own issues into the story."

— Shannon Hale

for Creatives  |  books, fantasy, reaching your audience, genre, Shannon Hale, William Shakespeare, Stephen Mitchell

Follow Your Curiosity

"I think it's probably good to believe whatever will encourage you to write."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Brian Evenson

"If you're an artist and you're satisfied, then you're done being an artist.  There's more out there than you could ever imagine."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  art, artists, creativity, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Jon Contino

"The greatest minds of our time and in human history have spent years, and sometimes decades, to condense the best of what they know into a few pages that can be read in a few hours and purchased for a few dollars … but you're not a big reader. That's a bad decision."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  reading, books, value the art, never stop LEARNING, Steve Scott

"I believe that it is difficult to kill an idea because ideas are invisible and contagious, and they move fast."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, reaching your audience, ideas, artist's message, creative freedom

"Sitting and writing, even on the awful days, is just a glorious thing to be able to do."

— Ralph E. Rodriguez

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, writer's block, the creative life, creative freedom, Ralph E. Rodriguez

"Encouragement gives writers the confidence to take risks in their work rather than play it safe.  It helps writers go to unexpected places in the work."

— Ron MacLean

for Creatives  |  writing, artists supporting artists, TAKE RISKS, Ron MacLean

"Writing is not brain surgery—no one will die if someone doesn't like your story."

— Karen Shepard

for Creatives  |  creative fear, writing, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Karen Shepard

"The only reason I was asked to edit this volume [of The Best American Short Stories] was because someone out there in the world was equally conscientious and didn't let this nobody writer slip between the cracks."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  books, short stories, literary fiction, writing, editing, editors, artists supporting artists, Junot Díaz

Follow Your Curiosity

"A review is someone performing thinking, and our finest reviewers are, to my mind, no less remarkable than our finest atheletes."

— Parul Sehgal

for Creatives  |  reviews, feedback/criticism/rejection, art interpretation, Parul Sehgal

"We don't own [language].  We walk around pretending like we do.  We give it order and we grab it and control it and pretend that that's meaning, but it's an arbitrary, free-floating sign system, which means any other group of people could grab it differently and order it differently and make a different meaning.  It's like the ocean in that way.  You can't grab the ocean."

— Lidia Yuknavitch

for Creatives  |  art, language, writing, culture, Lidia Yuknavitch

"The act of writing a book-length manuscript is its own education, regardless of whether the manuscript is ultimately published."

— Laura Maylene Walter

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, publishing, never stop LEARNING, Laura Maylene Walter

"The little Brontës, with their kingdom of Gondaland, the infant Alcotts, young Robert Browning, and H.G. Wells all led an intensive dream-life which carried over into their maturity and took another form; and there are hundreds of authors who could tell the same stories of their youth." (artist)

— Dorothea Brande (artwork by Henrique Alvim Corrêa)

for Creatives  |  art, artists, sci-fi, fantasy, creativity, writing, storytelling, H.G. Wells, Dorothea Brande, drawing/illustration, Robert Browning, Louisa May Alcott, Brontë

"People think it's a pipe dream to be an artist for a living, and proving them wrong has been the biggest motivation for me."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  artists, the creative life, Jon Contino, TAKE RISKS

"The most successful writers complete their words first thing in the morning. Sure, some work late in the evening or when they can find the time. But if you study the habits of professional authors, you'll see that most of them get up early and complete their words before the afternoon.  It's actually not that hard to write thousands of words on a daily basis. The trick is to follow a routine full of habits that reinforce this goal."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, word count, the creative life, Steve Scott

"Reading is one of the most profound ways to gain real empathy for people who are different from us."

— Shannon Hale

for Creatives  |  reading, value the art, Shannon Hale

"In college, I was into sculpture, I enjoyed sculpting the human body and understanding proportions.  You need to have a serious understanding of anatomy to be a fashion designer." (artist)

— Samantha Pleet (artwork by Scott Eaton)

for Creatives  |  sculpture, never stop LEARNING, digital art, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, Scott Eaton

"I started out writing novels—I wrote two bad ones before I ever touched a short story. ... Those failed novels taught me an immense amount about focus and about paying attention to my audience—essential skills for writing the short story.  Had I not written those bad novels I doubt I would have ever had any luck with short stories."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, short stories, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Junot Díaz

"Even making small films is an intense thing."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, short film, filmmaking, Keith Ehrlich

"It makes me uncomfortable to talk about meanings and things. It's better not to know so much about what things mean. Because the meaning, it's a very personal thing, and the meaning for me is different than the meaning for somebody else."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, reaching your audience, filmmaking, artist's message, David Lynch, art interpretation

"Throw away your television. ... Okay, don't throw away your television. You'll miss it when the tornado's on the way. But, at least, like, unsubscribe from premium cable. ... No, seriously, step away from the remote. You'll never know how much free time you actually have until you give up TV. ... Don't even. If you're watching Game of Thrones, you have time to write. ... Okay, so there are some really good shows on HBO, especially The Wire, but you really, really have to be careful. ... Okay, Six Feet Under as well, but, seriously, that's it. And no more than one episode per day. ... Better yet, do throw away your television."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  TV series, writing, the creative life, design your life, David James Poissant

"I was going to do something that I loved—and hopefully I'd be good at it—instead of doing something I was good at but didn't love." (on choosing acting over police science)

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, Bryan Cranston, acting

"No one could say that [Stephen King's] work is short of storytelling, but he plots very little."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  structured writing & plotting/outlining, intuitive writing & pantsing, pantsing vs. plotting, writing, storytelling, Stephen King, Kelly Marcel

"The [creative] work I'm doing now, and the work I will do, is why I left corporate America.  If I can't remember to embrace the craziness with a smile, then I've made a terrible mistake."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  photography, creating isn't easy, creative fear, artists, the creative life, design your life, Eric Ryan Anderson, TAKE RISKS, your passion vs. the day job

"Language and song are mingled in human history. To speak, to sing, is our heritage. Poets know that poems are songs, but few of us realize that novels are too." (musician)

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  novel writing, language, music, writing, poetry, artist's voice, Walter Mosley, singing, Lights

"It has never been more obvious to me that no one but the writer can understand what his story is or what it requires in the telling."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, protect the art, storytelling, value the art, Doug Dorst

"There's nothing for it but to use one's abilities full blast in every area—and that that resolve and action will conquer all and set [one] free—physically, creatively, and mentally."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  creativity, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, creative freedom, Jane Roberts

"As I get older, and I get a view on the lyric a bit more, it becomes more meaningful to me."

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  music, writing, artist's message, Lou Reed

"The Interview Fallacy [is] the fraudulent claim that the artist always knew what he was doing and how he was doing it and can explain the whole business judiciously later when the fires of the work have cooled." (artist)

— Charles Baxter (artwork by Andrew Ferez)

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, artists, creating in the moment, value the art, Andrew Ferez, Charles Baxter

"There's a huge difference between writing for yourself (aka journaling) and writing for an external human audience.  If your goal is to be published, there's no getting away from caring about—at least a little—what other people want from your writing.  So at some point in your process, you need to attend to the needs of those readers."

— Ryan G. Van Cleave

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, publishing, Ryan G. Van Cleave

"I am so very tired of all this snobbery surrounding how one chooses to publish their work.  It is now possible to make a lucrative career as a self-published author—sometimes, in fact, more lucrative than being a traditionally published author, especially in genre or other niche markets."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, publishing, genre, Nicki Porter, TAKE RISKS

"A good book, like a good meal, is consumed with little thought to the hours of care that went into its preparation.  A book takes a month to write and only hours to read.  If you factor in the time it takes to grow, harvest, and prepare the ingredients, every meal takes just as long to prepare."

— Joel Fishbane

for Creatives  |  books, creative process, food, value the art, Joel Fishbane

"I read a book called Quitter by Jon Acuff.  In it, he encourages people not to bail on their full-time jobs as soon as they feel like their dream is gaining some traction.  These were wise words that I needed to hear.  A full-time job provides stability so that you can take more risks on your dream.  In our culture, we're prone to demonize our day jobs and exalt our dream jobs, but we fail to see that the former can be a platform for the latter.  In his book, Acuff explains that the word no is the most valuable word you have as someone working toward your dream."

— Dana Tanamachi

for Creatives  |  books, creating isn't easy, nonfiction, the creative life, Dana Tanamachi, TAKE RISKS, your passion vs. the day job, Jon Acuff

Follow Your Curiosity

"AWP conferences are filled with would-be writers, but they're also filled with readers who love reading and want to talk about what they've read and what has mattered to them."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, formal arts education, writing conferences

"How does one get lost?  Through incorrect aims, as I have said.  Through wanting literary fame too quickly.  From wanting money too soon.  If only we could remember, fame and money are gifts given us only after we have gifted the world with our best, our lonely, our individual truths."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Ray Bradbury, the creative life

"The reader wants to see the scenery, hear the music, taste the spices, pet the critters, smell the air, and most of all, he wants to feel the emotions.  This is the excitement of science fiction: It gives the reader a chance to be someone else for a while—someone profoundly different; someone in a different universe, facing different challenges."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  reading, sci-fi, writing, writer-reader relationship, David Gerrold

"It wasn't fantasy, but there was just something... like, I'd paint a still life but the colors wouldn't be quite like you'd expect them to be.  That's the magic of it, and I love it—the world building that occurs on the canvas as it does on the page."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, fantasy, writing, creating in the moment, painting, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"You can't listen to what people say.  There are always going to be people telling you 'you can't do this,' or 'I don't like this.'  There are so many writers who have gotten 80,000 rejections and then suddenly they sell a book and it's a huge critical and commercial success.  So you never know.  Just keep writing."

— Caroline Leavitt

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Caroline Leavitt

"New writers are, if anything, even more welcome in the magazines."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, publishing, magazines, Orson Scott Card

"I see a lot of people who want the things that come along with being a musician or artist, but don't know what they actually want to represent.  When you don't have a vision for what you want to put out there, it can lead to being influenced by those around you.  Everyone is going to have an opinion and give you advice and tell you how to do things.  But if you really want to do your thing and be successful doing something that's unique to you, then you need to have a clear idea of what you want.  You will be influenced by others, but you should have the strongest sense of what you're putting out there."

— Tei Shi

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, artists, music, the successful artist, reaching your audience, ideas, feedback/criticism/rejection, Tei Shi

"Now I'm almost addicted to the risk of failure. ...the adrenalin that comes from creative fear."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creative fear, Steve Coogan, TAKE RISKS

"One of my favorite things about illustration is getting to delve into a writer's 'world.'"

— Rovina Cai

for Creatives  |  art, artist in the art, writing, writer-reader relationship, artist's voice, Rovina Cai, drawing/illustration

"The things you're not supposed to talk about in films are the same things you're not supposed to talk about at dinner parties: religion, politics and sex."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, film, Steve Coogan, artist's voice, filmmaking, genre, artist's message, creative freedom

"Have multiple expressions of your awesomeness available at a variety of value tiers. Have something free. Have something out there for a buck or three. Make sure folks can sample your work and still support you should they choose to do so. Be like the drug dealer: first taste is cheap or free, baby."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"Books are a uniquely portable magic."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, magic/mystery of creating/art, Stephen King, value the art

"Many writers, and teachers of writing, spend so much time comparing work to past masters that they lose the contemporary voice of the novel being created on this day."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's voice, protect the art, Walter Mosley, formal arts education

"I'm going to tell you that libraries are important. I'm going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, value the art, libraries

"I now knew the reason why this very talented writer kept getting to the one-yard line and was never able to score a touchdown—a working thriller. Instead of dedicating herself to nailing the form of the thriller/Story, she decided she was above it. She wanted the fruits of the labor (bestsellerdom) more than the labor itself (writing a brilliant and innovative hero at the mercy of the villain scene no matter if the book was ever published or not)."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, thriller, the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, Shawn Coyne

"I've blocked a lot of self-published authors for this kind of behavior: you're not a sentient spam-bot. Quit with the auto-DMs. Don't sign people up for your bulk emails. Don't use social media to forcibly invite folks to some dubious online event based around your book. Your marketing efforts should be beautiful music that draws me nearer, not a hammer that clubs me where I stand."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  photography, music, reaching your audience, Chuck Wendig

"We are seeking to create a story that amuses and entertains while capturing the complexity and truth of the human experience."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, storytelling, Alan Watt

"They're the stars: the genre authors whose books sell vastly better than most; so much so that they're no longer labeled genre authors. They're brands."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, genre, Donald Maass, categorization of art

"This is why virtually all inexperienced writers end up in their heads instead of the unconscious: because the unconscious is scary as hell. It is hell for many of us."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creating isn't easy, pantsing vs. plotting, creative fear, Robert Olen Butler, writing, writer's block

"The showbiz of the authorial appearance—the writer as carnival barker—is everywhere.  God help the writer who is unpresentable." (artist)

— Charles Baxter (artwork by Chris Boyd)

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Charles Baxter, author readings, Chris Boyd

"That's the case for most content creators. Film makers. Artists. Writers. Musicians. We've made it easier than ever to make stuff, and harder than ever to make enough money to live."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artists, music, writing, filmmaking, the creative life, value the art, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"What I most love about writing: the weird alchemy of arranging words in the hope that it produces something magical."

— Kevin Wilson

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, language, writing, Kevin Wilson

"I had to keep arguing for so long that genre is literature just as much as The Grapes of Wrath is.  Of course, most of it isn't as good—but most realism isn't as good as The Grapes of Wrath either."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  books, literary fiction, genre, literary vs. commercial, John Steinbeck

Follow Your Curiosity

"We all write for ourselves, because we're all those kids who, when we were little, liked to write poems and short stories.  We amused ourselves."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, short stories, writing, poetry, Jonathan Kellerman

"For me, having to produce a book a year would be a form of slavery."

— Scott Turow

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, novel writing, writing, publishing, Scott Turow

"Aspiring writers are everywhere.  That small fact is one of the many things I've learned since announcing my first book deal.  Every distant relative and former coworker seems to know someone who wants to write a book, and they have no problem sending them directly to you."

— Stephanie Faris

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, the successful artist, writing, Stephanie Faris

"You say you don't understand Dylan Thomas?  Yes, but your ganglion does, and your secret wits, and all your unborn children.  Read him, as you can read a horse with your eyes, set free and charging over an endless green meadow on a windy day."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  reading, poetry, artist's voice, Ray Bradbury, Dylan Thomas

"I think the creation of beauty is an uplifting act that can help people.  Creating beautiful images that people can see, share, and take solace in is a laudable social goal."

— Clayton Cubitt

for Creatives  |  art, reaching your audience, value the art, Clayton Cubitt

"When you're in art school, you're thrown into all of these vicious critiques.  But the point is to teach you that people's opinions can either have value or you can say, 'Fuck 'em!' and do what you do.  Someone will always think it's a piece of shit, so who cares what they think?  Just do what's important to you, hold yourself to the fire, make sure you're taking it seriously, and do the best you can.  That's enough."

— Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, artists, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine), formal arts education

"I once asked a fan who was a homicide cop, 'Why do you even read this? Isn't it a busman's holiday?'  He said, 'Jon, I get the bad guy 70 percent of the time.  You get him 100 percent of the time.'  People like crime novels because they give a certain sense of—I hate to use the words, but—closure and finality.  To some extent that's why people latch onto forensics, and shows like 'CSI' are so popular.  DNA, whiz-bang science."

— Jonathan Kellerman

for Creatives  |  reading, crime, mystery, writing, reaching your audience, Jonathan Kellerman

"Often what brings us to the page is the fact that something is unsettled, something isn't all right.  We write from a need to know; we want to figure out what we think, what we feel, what something means."

— Lee Martin

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, value the art, Lee Martin

"A lot of people tell me their stories because they think they know mine, and in a way, it's very gratifying.  The more inward you become, the more universal you become."

— Denise Duhamel

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, Denise Duhamel

"The movies have not undermined the influence of fiction.  On the contrary, they have extended its field, carrying the ideas which are already current among readers to those too young, too impatient, or too uneducated to read."

— Dorothea Brande

for Creatives  |  reading, film, literary fiction, reaching your audience, filmmaking, ideas, value the art, artists supporting artists, Dorothea Brande

"As soon as things get difficult, I walk away.  That's the great secret of creativity.  You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.  If you try to approach a cat and pick it up, hell, it won't let you do it.  You've got to say, 'Well, to hell with you.'  And the cat says, 'Wait a minute.  He's not behaving the way most humans do.'  Then the cat follows you out of curiosity: 'Well, what's wrong with you that you don't love me?'  Well, that's what an idea is.  See?  You just say, 'Well, hell, I don't need depression.  I don't need worry.  I don't need to push.'  The ideas will follow me.  When they're off-guard, and ready to be born, I'll turn around and grab them."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, writer's block, creative block, ideas, Ray Bradbury

"Fake realism is the escapism of our time."

— Ursula K. Le Guin

for Creatives  |  reading, reaching your audience, Ursula K. Le Guin

"You need to write. This seems axiomatic because it is. The only way to amass a pile of words into a book is to shovel some every single day. No days off. You have to form this habit; without it you are screwed. I'm going to assume [you] already have this down. If you don't—you won't make it." 

— Hugh Howey

for Creatives  |  novel writing, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Hugh Howey

"I had the urge to do things differently, but school convinced me that was a problem.  In creative fields, being different is a good thing.  But until you can say you're a professional artist or performer, you're told that it's wrong to take a different path than everybody else.  You are described as awkward or difficult—so I was an awkward and difficult child."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, artists, break the rules, Ben Hart, performance art, magic/illusion/mentalism

"I waited until I had an idea for a novel that I completely loved, and then wrote it.  My enthusiasm is what helped me get through the whole process—including finding an agent."

— Christopher Steinsvold

for Creatives  |  books, create for YOURSELF, sci-fi, novel writing, writing, agents, ideas, Christopher Steinsvold

Follow Your Curiosity

"A few words an hour, a few etched paragraphs per day and—voilà!  We are the Creator!  Or better still, Joyce, Kafka, Sartre!  Nothing could be further from true creativity.  Nothing could be more destructive."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creativity, writing, KEEP CREATING, word count, Ray Bradbury, Franz Kafka, value the art, Jean-Paul Sartre, James Joyce

"The first issue in any science fiction story is believability.  Because science fiction is rooted in science—what we actually know about the way the universe works—the writer has a responsibility to stay consistent with that body of knowledge.

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, writing, David Gerrold

"Being a good photographer is about more than talent.  You need to know a lot about business as well."

— Sophie Ebrard

for Creatives  |  photography, the successful artist, reaching your audience, Sophie Ebrard

"The world I see is not the world you see, mine is in me and yours is in you.  Essays are a way to reconcile these individual realities, to have my world meet yourself by taking an external experience or internal perception and reaching toward a universal meaning."

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, essay, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Liz Blood

"I believe that in the battle between guns and ideas, ideas will, eventually, win."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, ideas, artist's message, value the art

"How I love the fun of a shocker, the I-had-no-idea-wouldn't-have-guessed-in-a-million-years surprise.  My jaded self reads the summary of a movie or book and thinks, 'Well, I know what that will be about.  No thank you.'"  How I love to be proven wrong."

— Debra Spark

for Creatives  |  reading, books, film, reaching your audience, story endings, Debra Spark

"Avoid 'explaining' too much and just [let] the reader encounter a situation."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  writing, poetry, writer-reader relationship, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"We're basically abolishing the full time musician/writer/filmmaker. We're abolishing the full time creative. That's what's happening.  We're giving money to tech platforms to become 'Unicorns' off the backs of creatives, and driving creatives out of business."

— Jon Westenberg

for Creatives  |  artists, music, writing, filmmaking, the creative life, value the art, your passion vs. the day job, Jon Westenberg

Follow Your Curiosity

"The Oscars are like a political campaign.  Winning an Oscar is partly to do with how good your film is and partly to do with how tenacious you are during awards season."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  awards, film, Denzel Washington, the successful artist, Steve Coogan, filmmaking, acting, Halle Berry

"Poets are caretakers of language, and they know language and action are one."

— Yusef Komunyakaa

for Creatives  |  language, writing, poetry, value the art, Yusef Komunyakaa

"My success is based on luck. Not on how good I think my own books are."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  J.A. Konrath, the successful artist, writing

"There's always a stretch (and sometimes a few) in writing a novel when that intensity kicks in and you feel it taking over everything, even your time away from the desk.  It's a weird trick, your mind craving that imaginary world."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, novel writing, writing, Stewart O'Nan

"The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment–to put things down without deliberation–without worrying about their style–without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote—wrote, wrote ... By writing at the instant, the very heartbeat of life is caught." (artist)

— Walt Whitman (artwork by Jacek Yerka)

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, artists, writing, creating in the moment, libraries, Jacek Yerka, Walt Whitman

"By the time I started getting hit with 'Show, don't tell' as a screenwriter, I had already had enough experience under my belt to know that, as an overriding cinematic aesthetic, it was more or less bullshit."

— Bill Mesce, Jr.

for Creatives  |  writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, screenwriting, Bill Mesce, Jr., break the rules

"People think you make the gold of your poem out of nothing like Midas or something, but you don't.  You make the gold of your poem out of the seams of ore that you find."

— Medbh McGuckian

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, poetry, ideas, Medbh McGuckian

"I don't care about quotation marks and directing the reader and making things easy for the reader.  I don't want my fiction to be an example of the MFA style of 'show, don't tell,' of giving the reader a window onto reality, of lending a sense of transparency to the prose.  Stylistically, I wanted something dense, image-heavy, and digressive, because I like those things."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, writer-reader relationship, artist's voice, artist's message, punctuation, creative freedom, Viet Thanh Nguyen, break the rules

"A metaphor is a one-sentence fantasy.  It assigns lifelike or magical qualities to ordinary objects.  Metaphor and fantasy are bedfellows—and many fantasies are intended as metaphors; George Orwell's Animal Farm is the best example of this."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  books, fantasy, language, artist's message, George Orwell, David Gerrold

Follow Your Curiosity

"Stories affect us deeply."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  storytelling, value the art, Derren Brown

"Self-publishing is not easier, as you will find yourself mucking about in covers and copyediting and distribution and marketing for more hours than you spend writing—and when you publish traditionally you find yourself losing a lot of control over your work timelines and visions for the book's marketing."

— Kameron Hurley

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, the creative life, Kameron Hurley

"I think you can tell as a reader when a character starts making a statement and you can suddenly hear the author talking."

— Liane Moriarty

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, writer-reader relationship, artist's message, Liane Moriarty

"A mysterious force has been guiding us, and when we trust this, we connect to the aliveness of our story."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, creating in the moment, Alan Watt

"They pay me absurd amounts of money for something that I would do for free."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, the successful artist, writing, Stephen King, value the art

"Thrilling as it may be to read about something extraordinary and entirely foreign to our own experience, it's also wonderful to encounter ourselves on the page, to feel the rush of 'that's me, exactly!'"

— Augusten Burroughs

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, Augusten Burroughs

"Writing crime fiction and doing investigative journalism can be quite similar ... because in essence, both are about telling a great story.  A fabulous, riveting, compelling story, with characters you care about and problems that need to be solved.  You're tracking down clues, following leads, and convincing people to talk.  (Whether they are imaginary or real.)  You want the good guys to win, and the bad guys to get what's coming to them.  And in the end, you want to change the world.  And—incredibly important—you want to be enlightening as well as entertaining."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  Hank Phillippi Ryan

"Readers look for the surprises in your story the same way a child looks for the prize inside a box of Cracker Jacks.  If you don't surprise your audience, they walk away from your story wondering why they bothered."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, reaching your audience, David Gerrold

"A good portion of the writing process is subconscious and your subconscious mind is arranging things before you see them on the page, so you feel like a character is taking over at certain points.  I think that is more a function of your mind anticipating things.  You've created a constellation of words that have a living quality and they end up feeling like they have a life of their own."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  characters, intuitive writing & pantsing, magic/mystery of creating/art, language, writing, Brian Evenson

"I made a decision that forever changed my life. Instead of finding time to write, I made the commitment to get up in the morning and complete my words before doing anything else."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, protect the art, the creative life, value the art, Steve Scott

"Think about books as both mirrors and doors, and allow all kids to access both.  Celebrate stories of all kinds."

— Shannon Hale

for Creatives  |  books, children's books, value the art, Shannon Hale

"We readers know the power of fiction." (artist)

— Jon Phillips (artwork by Erika Doucesse)

for Creatives  |  reading, art, artists, value the art, digital art, Jon Phillips

"There is no iron that can enter the human heart with such stupefying effect as a period placed at just the right moment."

— Isaac Babel

for Creatives  |  language, writing, reaching your audience, punctuation, Isaac Babel

"I've found everything I've written to be very therapeutic and to have helped me find answers to questions I didn't know to ask myself."

— Adam Silvera

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, value the art, Adam Silvera

"A good story is a good story. If what I'm writing reaches you, then it reaches you no matter what title is stuck on it."

— Octavia Butler

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, storytelling, Octavia E. Butler

"A novel like The Grapes of Wrath may fill a new writer with feelings of despair and good old-fashioned jealousy—'I'll never be able to write anything that good, not if I live to be a thousand'—but such feelings can also serve as a spur, goading the writer to work harder and aim higher."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, creating isn't easy, creative fear, novel writing, writing, KEEP CREATING, Stephen King, never stop LEARNING, John Steinbeck

Follow Your Curiosity

"I now have a better understanding of how to communicate my ideas, but I still struggle every single day.  As soon as I stop struggling, I'll be dead."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, reaching your audience, ideas, the creative life, never stop LEARNING, design, Jon Contino

"Convincing science, technology, engineering kids that art is important is a battle that I like to fight."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  art, creativity, value the art, Junot Díaz

"There is a lot of talk in creative fields about separating those who are creative and make things from all the other people, but that's fucking bullshit.  I don't think you can be a good designer if you don't have a business sense; I don't think you can be a good director if you don't have a sense of production.  I think it's all a part of the job and, frankly, we all have the capacity for creative output."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  art, artists, creativity, the successful artist, filmmaking, the creative life, design, Keith Ehrlich

"In order to convince your reader that he is there, you must assault each of his senses, in turn, with color, sound, taste, and texture.  If your reader feels the sun on his flesh, the wind fluttering his shirt sleeves, half your fight is won." (artist)

— Ray Bradbury (photo by Yury Trofimov)

for Creatives  |  photography, artists, writing, reaching your audience, Ray Bradbury, Russian, Yury Trofimov

"Go ahead, make something up!  Anything.  After all, this is fantasy, right?  Wrong.  The audience still wants to believe in your world—and believability comes from the recognition of an internally consistent system of logic.  If things are not consistent, they are (literally!) unbelievable."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, writing, reaching your audience, David Gerrold

"Every idea that you fall in love with is a gift. How the ideas come is the trick."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  inspiration/the muse, ideas, David Lynch

"Whenever we do something to appease other people, it doesn't come across as genuine.  We want to make sure that we are constantly being ourselves, so we focus on developing our own work, and if mainstream outlets find us, then they have made a true discovery—we are not being pushed on them by a powerful PR firm."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, reaching your audience, Samantha Pleet, fashion design

"When you're two to ninety-two, you want to be told a story."

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  reading, Bryan Cranston, storytelling, value the art

"There's psychology in anything if you're creating believable characters, but there's an enormous amount that's important that happens outside you, and science fiction and fantasy and detective novels and romances tend to be about action."

— Eleanor Arnason

for Creatives  |  characters, mystery, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, writing, Eleanor Arnason

"There are broadly two ways to approach any piece of writing, in my opinion. One is where you have an idea of where the whole thing is heading ... The other is where you have a phrase, an image, maybe a single line that fascinates you and provokes you into elaborating it."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  structured writing & plotting/outlining, intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, create for YOURSELF, pantsing vs. plotting, writing, ideas, Marcel Theroux

"I know the next decade will bring some wild changes—both personally and industry-wide—as the vehicles with which we consume content keep changing.  That directly informs what I do for a living, and my hope is not just to keep up, but to really engage with new channels, mediums, and people."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  photography, reaching your audience, filmmaking, never stop LEARNING, books vs. ebooks, etc., Eric Ryan Anderson

"I picked up a camera to use in gathering raw material for my paintings, but I quickly loved how much more social photography was: I could actually interact with humans on a real-time basis and have a conversation, which doesn't happen with painting."

— Clayton Cubitt

for Creatives  |  photography, reaching your audience, painting, Clayton Cubitt

"Understand that, from this point forward, in order to be successful in any one area of your life, you will need to neglect one or more other areas of your life. This means that, at all times, you will be either a bad parent, a bad writer, or a bad employee. Get used to being one of these things.  The trick is to make sure you're not being all three of these things all at once."

— David James Poissant

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, the creative life, design your life, David James Poissant

"I believe that every writer must stand behind his work, and so completely and forever. To allow alterations or perversions of the work is unconscionable."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, protect the art, value the art, Doug Dorst

"Expression, rather than repression, is vital."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, art, creativity, protect the art, the creative life, value the art, creative freedom, Jane Roberts

"The thing that you need to never forget is that, when it comes to fiction, everything is made out of words.  What you end up with serves as a catalyst—it's a series of words that interacts with the mind of the reader to create something that feels like a real person to them." (artist)

— Brian Evenson (artwork by Levi)

for Creatives  |  characters, artists, language, writing, reaching your audience, Brian Evenson, Levi

"Withhold your play's secrets. Once they're revealed, you lose tension. The air goes out of the scenes. Delay. Delay. Delay."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  writing, Stephen Gregg, playwriting

"There are certain kinds of songs you write that are just fun songs—the lyric really can't survive without the music. But for most of what I do, the idea behind it was to try and bring a novelist's eye to it, and, within the framework of rock and roll, to try to have that lyric there so somebody who enjoys being engaged on that level could have that and have the rock and roll too."

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  creative process, novel writing, music, writing, reaching your audience, Lou Reed

"We need a new sociology of literary studies, and we need it right now."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, literary fiction, Charles Baxter, formal arts education

"Things took a more dramatic turn for me when I stumbled across The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. ... I didn't know Bester was a legend in the field.  Neil Gaiman wrote the introduction, but at the time I didn't know who he was, either.  I just decided to try it ... and it just blew my mind.  I think of The Stars My Destination as my origin story: reading that book made me want to find more books that could blow my mind like that."

— John Joseph Adams

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Neil Gaiman, sci-fi, value the art, John Joseph Adams, Alfred Bester

Follow Your Curiosity

"DON'T THINK.  Which results in more relaxation and more unthinkingness and greater creativity."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creativity, writing, creating in the moment, Ray Bradbury, the creative life

"So after you build it, you have to move into it.  You have to look around, listen, taste, touch, smell, and feel what you have created—then report back, so the reader can feel it too."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, reaching your audience, David Gerrold

"You always try to think in terms of what would be worse, what would be harder for these characters.  Because those are the moments when people really show their best selves.  Also, those are the things that people don't really talk about a lot, but they want to know about.  We're sort of afraid of it.  So as a writer, you go into those dark places, and I think that's what keeps the pages turning." 

— Caroline Leavitt

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, reaching your audience, Caroline Leavitt

"A good magic trick forces the spectator to tell a story that arrives at an impossible conclusion, and the clearer the story is, the better.  Normally, everything you need to solve the puzzle happens right in front of you, but you are made to care only about the parts that the magician wants you to.  When you join up those dots, so misleadingly and provocatively arranged, you are left with a baffling mystery.  A good magician might make the trick mean more, by elevating it beyond the mere disappearance or transposition of some props.  If it can be made to feel somehow relevant to you, rather than mere display of skill, then the story is likely to have more import and the trick more impact."

— Derren Brown

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, reaching your audience, storytelling, magic/illusion/mentalism, Derren Brown

"The appetite for new writers in the field of speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy) is still enormous. If you write competently and if your story has any spark of life, you will sell it."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, Orson Scott Card

"Making music and being an artist in any way, really, stems from an essentially self-centered place.  Some people will say that they make music or art to give something to the world, to share it with people, because they think people need to hear it.  I think most of that is bullshit.  You create things because they come from a place that is purely you.  It is very self-centered, which is not a bad thing—it is just the nature of creativity." 

— Tei Shi

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, art, artists, creativity, music, reaching your audience, artist's voice, Tei Shi

"As well as talking for the sake of it, too often what people say in films doesn't remotely resemble what they would say in real life."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  characters, film, Steve Coogan, filmmaking

"Nowadays, it pays to write a lot."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it."

— Madeleine L'Engle

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, inspiration/the muse, Madeleine L'Engle

"If you want to write believable fiction, you will have to cross over the line of your self-restraint and revel in the words and ideas that you would never express in your everyday life."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, ideas, Walter Mosley

"[My films] mean different things to different people. Some mean more or less the same things to a large number of people. It's okay. Just as long as there's not one message, spoon-fed. That's what films by committee end up being, and it's a real bummer to me ... Life is very, very complicated, and so films should be allowed to be, too."

— David Lynch

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, artist's voice, filmmaking, artist's message, creative freedom, David Lynch, art interpretation

"Remember: The most important part of science fiction is the science.  Otherwise it isn't science fiction."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, writing, David Gerrold

"I believe I have the right to think and say the wrong things. I believe your remedy for that should be to argue with me or to ignore me, and that I should have the same remedy for the wrong things that I believe you think."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist integrity, artist's voice, protect the art, artist's message, artists supporting artists, creative freedom

"A Story either works or doesn't work. It either engages the reader or it doesn't. It's alive or it's dead, like our mongooses. And the last thing an editor wants to do is kill a living Story, no matter how mangy."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, editors, storytelling, Shawn Coyne

"Technique without imagination is worthless, and imagination without technique will cloud our work's intended meaning."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's message, value the art, Alan Watt

"Your past is full of stories that have been composed in a certain way; that’s what memories are. But only when they decompose are you able to recompose them into new works of art." (artist)

— Robert Olen Butler (artwork by Andrew Ferez)

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, artists, Robert Olen Butler, writing, storytelling, Andrew Ferez

"What we all have in us ... t it has always been there, and so few of us bother to notice.  When people ask me where I get my ideas, I laugh.  How strange—we're so busy looking out, to find ways and means, we forget to look in.  The Muse, to belabor the point then, is there, a fantastic storehouse, our complete being.  All that is most original lies waiting for us to summon it forth."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  creativity, inspiration/the muse, ideas, Ray Bradbury

"Whatever type of fiction you intend to write, the greatest challenge you face is to go your own way."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, writing, Donald Maass

"The novel about character (in which character is primary) is never going to die.  I still read a lot of books because I'm interested in the characters.  I think everybody does to some degree or another."

— Brian Evenson

for Creatives  |  reading, books, characters, Brian Evenson

"The act of writing, once I actually sit down, is always spontaneous and creative ... what Freud would call a primary process—an unconscious mind type of thing, where you're in a hypnoidal state, an altered state of consciousness.  You'll sit down and after three hours it seems like it's been 20 minutes.  Although I find myself as tired as if I've been working for eight hours." (artist)

— Jonathan Kellerman (artwork by Melissa Ng)

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, Jonathan Kellerman

"Language is that way.  It can be very tactile.  It can go deeper than mere words."

— Yusef Komunyakaa

for Creatives  |  language, writing, Yusef Komunyakaa

"I do try to startle myself into a small combo of delight, wonder, and a dash of fright as I am composing a poem, just to keep me on my toes."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, writing, poetry, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

"The true failure of a writer is to quit, to give in.  A genuine writer accepts failure, understands how essential it is to the process, and simply continues to write, each time hoping the next story will be better than the one that came before it."

— Kevin Wilson

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Kevin Wilson

"I exhort poets to become like Felix the Cat, the cartoon character I grew up watching, who has a magic bag of tricks from which he can pull countless, miraculous items or which he can transform in an instant into whatever his mind conjures up."

— Sharon Dolin

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, poetry, Sharon Dolin, cartoon

I was further learning that my characters would do my work for me, if I let them alone, if I gave them their heads, which is to say, their fantasies, their frights.

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  characters, intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, Ray Bradbury

"A good story is exactly what it is supposed to be and no more; it's economical, emotionally complex, has a good heart and operates on multiple levels, like a lover who's bad for you that you can't stop thinking about."

— Matt Perez

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, Matt Perez

"The biggest risk was initially sharing the music when I put my first song out.  When you put out something that's such a big part of you, it's emotionally exposing.  It was a huge personal and emotional risk.  It could have gone so many different ways, but, thankfully, it went the best way it could have."

— Tei Shi

for Creatives  |  creative fear, music, Tei Shi, TAKE RISKS, your 1st song

"Writing a novel is not nearly as difficult as some people would make it out to be."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, creative fear, novel writing, writing, Walter Mosley

"Stick with it.  Do your thing.  I dropped out at 16, I never went to art school, and I taught myself everything I know."

— Clayton Cubitt

for Creatives  |  photography, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, formal arts education, Clayton Cubitt

"I don't think there's anything wrong with writing or creating with an audience in mind.  That's smart as long as you feel like you're part of that audience and you don't change or go against your own intuition an about what you should create in order to make them happy."

— Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, music, writing, reaching your audience, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

"Sometimes the contrast helps: when you come home from your day job, you have so much to pour into your passion because you've been holding in your creativity all day."

— Steven A. Clark

for Creatives  |  creativity, the creative life, Steven A. Clark, your passion vs. the day job

"Every book is a billboard for your entire backlist. If that book is enjoyed, it will lead a certain number of readers to your other books."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  books, J.A. Konrath, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, Jennifer Weiner

Follow Your Curiosity

"Success is about pushing yourself to a new level with what you create."

— Gemma O'Brien

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, never stop LEARNING, Gemma O'Brien

"When you're asked if you're qualified, you say yes.  Then you worry later about whether or not you're actually qualified."

— Ben Hart

for Creatives  |  Ben Hart, magic/illusion/mentalism, TAKE RISKS

"I think that not going to art school was beneficial because that allowed me to find my own style.  When you study art, you become influenced by it.  And there's already so much we see on the internet that influences us as well."

— Sophie Ebrard

for Creatives  |  photography, artist integrity, Sophie Ebrard, formal arts education

"One day, I had a great idea for a mystery.  I knew it was a good idea; I got goosebumps and became obsessed.  I announced to my husband, 'I'm going to write a mystery.'  He was sweetly skeptical, but supportive, and I was naively compelled to write it.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I thought—I've read a million mysteries!  I'll learn.  I was 55 years old, and that book turned out to be Prime Time, which won the Agatha for Best First Novel."

— Hank Phillippi Ryan

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, awards, create for YOURSELF, mystery, novel writing, suspense, writing, ideas, never stop LEARNING, Hank Phillippi Ryan

Follow Your Curiosity

"Questioning is key to essay writing—it's usually what gets the piece moving."

— Liz Blood

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, essay, inspiration/the muse, Liz Blood

"Punctuation rule enforcement in our culture is blatant.  A Facebook post (from Grammarly.com) on August 23, 2014 reads: 'I don't judge people based on race, creed, color, or gender.  I judge people based on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure."

— Natasha Sajé

for Creatives  |  language, writing, culture, punctuation, Natasha Sajé

"Finding readers is a crapshoot. Keeping readers is a crapshoot."

— J.A. Konrath

for Creatives  |  J.A. Konrath, writing, reaching your audience

"I tried Jurassic Park, and Michael Crichton is ultimately the author who really got me into science fiction.  He's actually kind of anti-science fiction in a way, because science is always the antagonist in his novels, but all of the science in Jurassic Park gave me the confidence to go try some 'real' SF."

— John Joseph Adams

for Creatives  |  reading, books, sci-fi, Michael Crichton, John Joseph Adams

Follow Your Curiosity

"Saul Bellow says that a writer is just a reader moved to emulation, and that's what happened with me."

— Stewart O'Nan

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, writer-reader relationship, Stewart O'Nan, Saul Bellow

"I long ago began to bridle at the idea there were 'rules' to writing, and, over time, no rule came to aggravate me more than the seemingly carved-in-stone dictum: 'Show, Don't Tell.'"

— Bill Mesce, Jr.

for Creatives  |  writing, creative freedom, Bill Mesce, Jr., break the rules

"I write things down as I go along and keep it in a notebook and I know when I have enough words gathered for a poem.  It is like harvesting."

— Medbh McGuckian

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, poetry, ideas, Medbh McGuckian

"If you can still tell what's red ink on your manuscript and what's your own blood then you haven't finished editing."

— Daniel Parsons

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, editing, rewriting, Daniel Parsons

"I like high modernism and low genre.  I'm bored by middlebrow literary realism, which seems to be the dominant mode of contemporary American fiction."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, genre, American, Viet Thanh Nguyen

"The realization that writing is an art but publishing is a business can be demoralizing."

— Kameron Hurley

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, Kameron Hurley

"I work with three: my editor in the U.K., my editor in Australia, and my editor in America.  It does make it hard, because often their editorial reports contradict each other, so in the end, I have to make my own decision."

— Liane Moriarty

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, editing, editors, Liane Moriarty

"In order to really hit a book out of the park, a writer/publisher needs to bring women to the party. The male writers who do count women as devoted readers write stories that often include a love Story within their overarching plot."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reading, romance, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, Shawn Coyne

"Bestselling author Jeff Pearlman tells new acquaintances that he's a plumber.  'Because when you say you're a writer, they either think you're some schlub on a couch, or they tell you about a friend's daughter's sister who's also a writer, and she's had some success at fill-in-the-blank.'"

— Pete Croatto

for Creatives  |  writing, the creative life, Pete Croatto

"A block may be a dam behind which creativity wells up, under tremendous pressure.  When it dissipates, the writer may experience a surge of creativity, or productivity, or both."

— Dylan Landis

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, writer's block, creative block, Dylan Landis

"I don't think in terms of 'success' so much anymore.  Because I know how things can happen: You can have success, and then it can be taken away from you.  Then you can have it again.  So I just really focus more on the work.  I love to write, and that's what I'm going to keep on doing, no matter if I'm published again (or not published again)."

— Caroline Leavitt

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, KEEP CREATING, publishing, the creative life, Caroline Leavitt

"Can you imagine William Faulkner [making a public appearance] in a bookstore?  He'd probably be blind drunk and would tell everyone to go fuck themselves."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, reaching your audience, bookstores, William Faulkner, Charles Baxter, author readings

"Our job in publishing is to keep creating many different kinds of books and then getting out of the way so that readers can pick their own."

— Shannon Hale

for Creatives  |  reading, books, reaching your audience, publishing, genre, Shannon Hale

"Being creatively satisfied means that you possess the faith that as you connect the dots of your inspiration, bridges will form—and yet more dots will appear.  Once you settle into the idea that that can continue forever, then you are satisfied knowing that there will always be something that draws you in, compels you, and drives you to look closer.  There will always be another way to express yourself.  It's a dance that never ends."

— Rebecca Rebouché

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, magic/mystery of creating/art, inspiration/the muse, the creative life, painting, Rebecca Rebouché

"The more personality I put into my work, the more people respond to it.  I've realized that I don't have to only do what I think others expect from me or what I expect to get paid for."

— Jon Contino

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, reaching your audience, design, Jon Contino

"I decided that I wanted to have a record for my sons that would say, 'Wow, Mom really marveled at the world.  She really championed the good on Earth.'  That's how Lucky Fish partially came to be.  And I've never really written for a specific audience in mind until that particular book."

— Aimee Nezhukumatathil

for Creatives  |  books, writing, poetry, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, artist's message, Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Follow Your Curiosity

"I find the culture silences—places people don't want to talk—and I build in them, I work in them. ... Because that's what an artist does. ... An artist points their finger in directions that not everyone wants to look."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, artists, culture, value the art, Junot Díaz

"I used to think that some stories could only be written once by one person after they had lived many years thinking about that story.  I still believe that."

— Terry McDonell

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, artist's voice, Terry McDonell

"I started working as a production assistant on independent features and that taught me what I didn't want to do.  I was turned off by certain things in production, in particular the attitudes that I saw on so many crews.  I read an interview with Jim Jarmusch and he talked about production being there to serve the film and not the other way around; that really resonated with me."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  filmmaking, value the art, Keith Ehrlich

"I had a 260-page screenplay [for Something Wicked This Way Comes].  That's six hours.  [Director] Jack [Clayton] said, 'Well, now you've got to cut out forty pages.'  I said, 'God, I can't.'  He said, 'Go ahead, I know you can do it.  I'll be behind you.'  So I cut forty pages out.  He said, 'Okay, now you've got to cut another forty pages out.'  I got it down to 180 pages, and then Jack said, 'Thirty more.'  I said, 'Impossible, impossible!'  Okay, I got it down to 150 pages.  And Jack said, 'Thirty more.'  Well, he kept telling me I could do it, and, by God, I went through a final time and got it down to 120 pages.  It was better."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  mystery, film, fantasy, thriller, Ray Bradbury, film based on novel, screenwriting, Jack Clayton

Follow Your Curiosity

"Even if you go to school and work a lot of internships, you can only really make your way through experience and the process of trial and error.  You have to come up with your own method of doing things if you want to do something truly unique."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, the successful artist, artists must EXPERIENCE, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, formal arts education

"We're never fully satisfied.  Despite being happy with most of my work, I still constantly struggle with those inner demons who tell me it's all junk.  That said, the older I get, the less time I spend worrying about how others receive my work, or even what others are working on."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, Eric Ryan Anderson

"My problem with realism is that a realistic novel about the psychological problems of middle-class people is a story which is very similar to the life I'm leading, and thus is not too interesting.  Whereas the minute you throw in a dragon or global warming, it becomes very interesting."

— Eleanor Arnason

for Creatives  |  reading, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, Eleanor Arnason, literary vs. commercial

"Keep your scenes ... around two thousand words. I also recommend that you treat your scenes like chapters. That is, each scene should be a chapter in your novel. Why? Two-thousand-word scenes/chapters are potato chip length. That is, if you are about to go to bed and you're reading a terrific novel and the scenes/chapters come in around two-thousand-word bites, you'll tell yourself that you'll read just one more chapter. But if the narrative is really moving after you finish one of these bites, you won't be able to help yourself reading another. If the Story is extremely well told, you'll just keep eating the potato chip scenes all through the night. Whereas, if you cram five scenes into a chapter that ends up being forty pages, the bedside reader will have a much easier time just setting the book down before beginning the long slog through seventy-five hundred words. People like to stop reading when they've finished a chapter, not in the middle of a chapter."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reading, novel writing, writing, word count, Shawn Coyne

"You have to be willing to go to the place [in your mind] you don't want to go from time to time."

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, Bryan Cranston, acting

"Writing is hard. You have to sit for hours and type letters. You have to think of things that nobody ever thought of and tell them in ways that nobody ever told them before."

— James Altucher

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, writing, James Altucher

"I do think a lot of bunk is talked about short stories. ... I feel there's a way that the quote-unquote literary short story has unfairly hogged the limelight. A short story is a great way to explore mood, a pregnant silence, a seemingly mundane scenario that's somehow charged with significance. But I don't see why that kind of short story is the only kind or necessarily the most valid. A short story is just short. Beyond that I think anything is possible."

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  short stories, literary fiction, Marcel Theroux, literary vs. commercial

"I knew how powerfully good theatre could affect people.  I dragged unwilling friends along, and saw their reaction to good work and to rubbish.  I looked at the different audiences, and wondered about how they might change, how more people—people like my parents—could at least be offered the choice of becoming theatre-goers."

— Kenneth Branagh

for Creatives  |  art, value the art, Kenneth Branagh, theater, performance art

"Focus on the Writer and not the Work dishonors both."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  writing, value the art, Doug Dorst

"A great story is a series of surprises.  Every chapter should have a surprise, every paragraph should have a surprise, every sentence should have a surprise."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, David Gerrold

"I began to find some true way through the minefields of imitation.  I finally figured out that if you are going to step on a live mine, make it your own.  Be blown up, as it were, by your own delights and despairs."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, Ray Bradbury

"Think of reading as an investment that you make in yourself. The more you do it, the more you'll grow as a person."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  reading, never stop LEARNING, Steve Scott

"When you write a book, and when it's first published, even if people love it and it wins awards, there's no guarantee it'll be long lived."

— Jane Yolen

for Creatives  |  awards, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, Jane Yolen

"Think back to our artisans, arranging their days to their personal satisfaction rather than the demands of the system."

— Cory Doctorow

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artists, the creative life, design your life, Cory Doctorow

"Ultimately that's what led me to becoming an editor ... driving myself to find things that would challenge me as a reader and change the way I read."

— John Joseph Adams

for Creatives  |  reading, editors, John Joseph Adams

"The lyric should be able to stand alone before it gets married to music." (artist)

— Lou Reed (lyrics written/drawn by Rachel Platten)

for Creatives  |  music, writing, Lou Reed, Rachel Platten

"With creative people ... there are always intrusions, hints or clues from ways of thinking that certainly appear foreign, and creative people use those hints and clues to construct an art, a musical composition or whatever. They sense a surge of power beneath."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, creativity, music, inspiration/the muse, Jane Roberts

"As a playwright, your primary responsibility is to not bore your audience. It's not to improve them. This is already an arrogant art form."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, artist's message, Stephen Gregg, playwriting

"When I write a piece of fiction ... I can make myself feel connected to the larger human family by giving other people pieces of my own reality, thereby getting outside of my own limited view."

— Nellie Hermann

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Nellie Hermann

"It took me 20 years of writing before I could write [Pulitzer Prize-winning] The Sympathizer.  I got to that point by writing a lot, reading a lot, and enduring a lot."

— Viet Thanh Nguyen

for Creatives  |  creative process, awards, writing, KEEP CREATING, artists must EXPERIENCE, Viet Thanh Nguyen

Follow Your Curiosity

"Readers love the sense of possibilities ... of hypothetical worlds that mimic and mirror our own.  Our actual lives have become fantastical in many respects, and the hybrid story of realism plus fantasy seems to be touching that tender spot."

— Charles Baxter

for Creatives  |  reading, fantasy, reaching your audience, genre, Charles Baxter, magical realism

"A rustic setting always suggests fantasy; to suggest science fiction, you need sheet metal and plastic. You need rivets."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, Orson Scott Card

"I don't want to say I have the common touch, but I am just a common person, and I have this one talent that I use."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, Stephen King

"If you think of films often cited as 'perfect' movies,' whether it's old Hollywood films like Casablanca (1942) or more modern classics like Chinatown (1974)—it's not just the pictures you remember.  It's the characters' voices."

— Stephen Whitty

for Creatives  |  characters, film, storytelling, Stephen Whitty

Follow Your Curiosity

"The Americans ... tend not to embrace noble failure quite so much in their comedy.  As far as Americans are concerned, you either win or you lose.  Our ability [as Britons] to laugh at ourselves is to be celebrated."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  British, comedy, culture, Steve Coogan, comedy writing

"If the magazine (print or electronic) charges money for folks to read the magazine, then that magazine better be paying you."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, Chuck Wendig, value the art, magazines

"The way you get to this unconscious place is by writing every day."  

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, inspiration/the muse, Walter Mosley

"Mamet and Macy's method to deconstruct the fundamental unit of a novelist, a playwright or a screenwriter's Storytelling is a Godsend. Read A Practical Handbook for the Actor, the meat of what came out of Mamet and Macy’s lectures and the foundation of The Atlantic Theater Company in New York. It's so simple, direct and easy to understand, it's mind blowing."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  books, novel writing, nonfiction, writing, storytelling, acting, David Mamet, Shawn Coyne, screenwriting, W. H. Macy, Gregory Mosher, Melissa Bruder, Lee Michael Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Nathaniel Pollack, Robert Previtio, Scott Zigler, playwriting

Follow Your Curiosity

"I rage at the imminent loss of my friend.  And I think, What would Terry do with this anger?  Then I pick up my pen, and I start to write."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Terry Pratchett

"That sense of wonder is what you aspire to create; that's what you must create if you are going to write effective science fiction and fantasy."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, David Gerrold

"Writing is survival.  Any art, any good work, of course, is that."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  art, writing, Ray Bradbury, value the art

"The happy writer is an open writer: open to experiences, emotions, words, ideas, books, authors, tastes, smells, films, travel."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  reading, books, food, film, language, writing, travel, ideas, artists must EXPERIENCE, Chuck Wendig

"The writer's life is filled with endless unknowns and terminable dreads, but when we acknowledge that the thrill of creation is its own reward, we are the lucky ones."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, creative fear, writing, the creative life, Alan Watt

"Perhaps in part because they have fewer rules to follow, they must rely more on universal techniques and stay truer to their inner compasses. Without genre crutches to lean on they must walk the walk of true novelists. You can call them genre-bending if you like, but I call them genre-transcending. While they may establish a new category, they are genuine fiction masters."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, novel writing, writing, genre, Donald Maass, creative freedom, categorization of art, break the rules

"The primary point of contact for the reader is going to be an emotional one, because emotions reside in the senses."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  reading, Robert Olen Butler, writing, writer-reader relationship

"Writing fiction, or at least trying to make a living by writing fiction, creates new ways for the writer to experience failure.  At first I was simply writing stories no one liked.  Then, once I got better, I started sending out the good stories to literary journals and getting rejected.  Then, once I started getting acceptances, I began receiving queries from agents who would then tell me I was not 'there' yet.  Then, once I got an agent, a year passed before he told me I was not progressing the way he had hoped, and we agreed to end our relationship.  Once I started writing short stories that were pretty good, everyone told me I really needed to write a novel.  Once I started writing short stories that were pretty good, everyone told me I really needed to write a novel.  Once I wrote a novel, it was rejected by everyone who read it.  Once I got enough publications to start applying for grants and awards, I didn't even come close to receiving any of them.  It was a weird cycle in which, instead of feeling happy I was getting better as a writer, I kept realizing how little I had actually progressed in the ways I started to quantify as success."

— Kevin Wilson

for Creatives  |  awards, creating isn't easy, short stories, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, publishing, agents, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, Kevin Wilson

"Playing shows has an immediacy that I'm not in control of ...  It took me a long time to enjoy that spontaneity and take chances.  It took me fucking up in front of a lot of people for a long time, and doing that enough times to realize that it doesn't matter: your intent is so much more important than the follow-through."

— Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, music, the creative life, Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine)

"Making yourself vulnerable and subjecting yourself to the judgment of others is a risk that you continue to take when you're creative."

— Tei Shi

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, Tei Shi, TAKE RISKS

"We want to feel that life is important.  A good story reminds us of that."

— Matt Perez

for Creatives  |  storytelling, value the art, Matt Perez

"The magic and the danger of fiction is this: it allows us to see through other eyes. It takes us to places we have never been, allows us to care about, worry about, laugh with, cry for, people who do not, outside of the story, exist. There are people who think that things that happen in fiction do not really happen. These people are wrong."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, magic/mystery of creating/art, storytelling, value the art

"That distinctive voice is so valuable that when it comes it will rise, I think.  You develop it and you stay with it and you have your own tone and style.  One would hope that it will stick, eventually.  You just have to let it rip sometimes."

— Terry McDonell

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, Terry McDonell

"The sense of wonder is the marvelous heart of every great science fiction or fantasy story.  It comes from the surprise of discovery.  It comes from the recognition of the magic within.  Most of all, it comes from the realization—the acknowledgment—of something new in the universe."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, sci-fi, fantasy, storytelling, David Gerrold

"And what, you ask, does writing teach us?  First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that is a gift and a privilege, not a right.  We must earn life once it has been awarded us.  Life asks for rewards back because it has favored us with animation."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  writing, Ray Bradbury, the creative life, value the art, comedy writing

"After rejection No. 40, I started lying to my friends about what I did on the weekends.  They were amazed by how many times a person could repaint her apartment.  The truth was, I was embarrassed for my friends and family to know I was still working on the same story, the one nobody apparently wanted to read."

— Kathryn Stockett

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, feedback/criticism/rejection, Kathryn Stockett

Follow Your Curiosity

"Of all the things I've learned about writing, this is the most important: There's a domain of excitement and eagerness and delight that can be astonishing.  It is a place of commitment and discovery and wonderment.  It is the far side of passion.  It is totality of purpose, an inspired obsession.  I like to call it stardrive.  It's the engine at the center of your personal starship.  It's your heart of brightness.  It is who you really are.  It is simply you—you are the source."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, magic/mystery of creating/art, artist integrity, artist in the art, writing, inspiration/the muse, David Gerrold

"I don't believe you can be satisfied and creative at once."

— Molly Crabapple

for Creatives  |  Molly Crabapple

"The ongoing professionalization of writing, an outcome of our neoliberal moment, has acted centrifugally on writers, clotting them together in ways that are unprecedented.  I tend to spend more time with readers.  What truly enriches my creative life are folks who do anything other than writing. ... And books, of course.  I don't need much else to inspire me as long as I have books."

— Junot Díaz

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, solitude of creating, inspiration/the muse, writer-reader relationship, the creative life, Junot Díaz

"Once I started taking pictures, I never put the camera down.  That is how I fell in love with photography." (artist)

— Paul Octavious (photo by Jennifer Trovato)

for Creatives  |  photography, create for YOURSELF, Paul Octavious

"People listen to music and interpret it in their own way, but it's weird when a thing that has helped you through a hard time becomes your career."

— Sharon Van Etten

for Creatives  |  music, reaching your audience, artist's message, value the art, Sharon Van Etten, art interpretation

"The best advice I ever got was from a fellow writer who said: 'It's OK to admit it's hard.  If it were easy, everyone would do it.'"

— Brad Meltzer

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, Brad Meltzer

"A famous quote from Chekhov that sounds better in Russian goes something like, 'If you are able not to write, don't write.'  If you can live without it, don't do it, because it's painful and humiliating and an awful lot of work, especially memoir."

— Elena Gorokhova

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, memoir, Russian, Elena Gorokhova, Anton Chekhov

"I got published when I was in my 20s, and my first novel was a sensation.  And I thought, 'Oh, my God! It's going to be like this all the time!'  Then books two through eight were failures.  I had five different publishers.  Three of them went out of business.  Two of them did nothing for the book and wouldn't take my calls."

— Caroline Leavitt

for Creatives  |  your 1st book, creating isn't easy, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, publishing, Caroline Leavitt

"It just felt great.  I loved the way [photography] offered the possibility to document life and freeze time.  I also liked that it could be a completely independent art form—sometimes it's just me and my camera."

— Ren Rox

for Creatives  |  photography, create for YOURSELF, solitude of creating, value the art, Ren Rox

"A book is a dream you hold in your hands."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Neil Gaiman, magic/mystery of creating/art, value the art

"In hesitation is thought.  In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, pantsing vs. plotting, artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, Ray Bradbury

"One of the big roles of an agency today is to look at the book as content and to see how it can be sold in all these different ways: book to film, book to television, book to product.  The people who are making money in the industry are taking the book's content and leveraging it in a 360-degree way."

— Regina Brooks

for Creatives  |  novel writing, the successful artist, publishing, agents, film based on novel, Regina Brooks, TV series based on novel

"That's what I want to do, as a writer—I want to enter into those minds and hearts, and I want you, the reader, to enter in as well.  Empathy is the portal."

— Roxana Robinson

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Roxana Robinson

"Music videos are what made me want to go into filmmaking."

— Keith Ehrlich

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, music video, filmmaking, Robbie Williams, Keith Ehrlich

Follow Your Curiosity


You wouldn't want to immediately start performing in Carnegie Hall before you've practiced your violin for 10 or 20 years.  Writing is no different.  It's hard—show me that you have respect for that."

— Ayesha Pande

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, music, writing, KEEP CREATING, agents, value the art, Ayesha Pande, performance art

"People want to read varied perspectives and a lot of publishers and agents who wouldn't take a chance before are finally responding."

— Jim McCarthy

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, publishing, agents, Jim McCarthy

"People who follow trends are not writing for themselves."

— Jennifer Unter

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, Jennifer Unter

"You need to go on an adventure so you can write a new story."

— Kevin Allison

for Creatives  |  photography, adventure, writing, travel, artists must EXPERIENCE, Kevin Allison

"If there is a secret to getting published—it's tenacity!

— Loree Lough

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, publishing, Loree Lough

"Commercial fiction can have literary qualities ... genre fiction can include good storytelling, and literary fiction can have a plot."

— Jennifer Landels

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, storytelling, genre, Jennifer Landels, literary vs. commercial

"Once you define a character, they tell their story."

— Amulya Malladi

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, storytelling, Amulya Malladi

"Figure out the hot spots in your story.  What are the moments or events after which your life was no longer the same?  If you write enough of these and put them in chronological order, this is your memoir."

— Elena Gorokhova

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, memoir, Elena Gorokhova

"What I consider to be the 'real' life of a modern-day novelist: There will be high points, there will be harsh blows, and you will probably have to teach, consult, or edit to make ends meet.  All you can do is return to the writing, day after day—and never, ever give up."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Nicki Porter

"If you're a good writer, you will find an advocate who believes in your work."

— Malaga Baldi

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, agents, Malaga Baldi

"Empathy enlarges the writer's understanding, engages the reader, and widens the story."

— Roxana Robinson

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Roxana Robinson

"I remember feeling a sense of comfort, joy, and pride when working with my hands: I was in my element.  I was pretty imaginative, but I never considered myself an artist—somehow, I still don't."

— Dana Tanamachi

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artists, artist in the art, design, Dana Tanamachi, lettering

"As designers, we go into another world, into the unknown, so it's important to be experimental and think outside of the box.  We've continued to evolve, and photography has now become a huge part of what we do.  I love it because you can capture the world around you, finding and sharing magic in the everyday.  That's what we're about."

— Samantha Pleet

for Creatives  |  photography, magic/mystery of creating/art, reaching your audience, creative freedom, Samantha Pleet, fashion design, design

"At the end of the day, we're probably not changing the world with most of the images we're making.  Instead, I think the main opportunity to contribute to the greater good is through the relational aspect of what we do as artists.  We meet and interact with people form all over the world, all the time.  The ability to go beyond the creation of images and to develop a camaraderie with people ... is important.  Those relationships will likely last longer than the typical lifespan of an image."

— Eric Ryan Anderson

for Creatives  |  photography, artists, reaching your audience, filmmaking, value the art, Eric Ryan Anderson

"We have split in the 20th century between genre fiction, which tends to be about action, and fiction that's about interpersonal relationships and psychology."

— Eleanor Arnason

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, genre, Eleanor Arnason, categorization of art

"As an actor, you need to embrace the darkness within you as well."

— Bryan Cranston

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, Bryan Cranston, acting

"[Flannery O'Connor] just had a sense of an opening and then pursued it—like Theseus following the thread out of the labyrinth. ... I think this seems scary, but it can lead to an outcome that feels very natural, unforced and satisfying. ... I really encourage people to follow this advice, and largely follow it myself. "

— Marcel Theroux

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, story beginnings, Flannery O'Connor, Marcel Theroux

"The literature of the fantastic is about awakening that feeling of awe—and exercising it."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  fantasy, writing, reaching your audience, David Gerrold

"The creation of a book is such a private and solitary process, and in so many ways is simply irretrievable—a writer can so very rarely specify exactly what was going on for him or her when s/he was writing a particular passage or scene. This is part of why the fun of writing and reading never goes away, because you can just never get to the bottom of it."

— Nellie Hermann

for Creatives  |  reading, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, novel writing, writing, solitude of creating, Nellie Hermann

"Just seeing excellent films doesn't educate you at all, because they're mysterious.  A great film is mysterious.  There's no way of solving it.  Why does Citizen Kane work?  Well, it just does.  It's brilliant on very level, and there's no way of putting your finger on any on thing that's right.  It's just all right.  But a bad film is immediately evident, and it can teach you more: 'I'll never do that, and I'll never do that, and I'll never do that.'"

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, film, Ray Bradbury, Orson Welles, never stop LEARNING

Follow Your Curiosity

"In reaching for the unknown—in that middle realm, somewhere between what I understand and what I have never before imagined—I feel the spark of inspiration begin to glow."

— Abby Geni

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, inspiration/the muse

"Find what you love. Then fight like hell when people try to take it from you."

— Doug Dorst

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, protect the art, the creative life, Doug Dorst

"I had firm convictions of the importance of popular art, and of its power to make life seem richer and better.  I knew in my bones that drama need not be elitist."

— Kenneth Branagh

for Creatives  |  art, reaching your audience, value the art, acting, Kenneth Branagh

"The fun of most plays is seeing actors react to each other."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, acting, Stephen Gregg, performance art

"Later on I find out what [a lyric] was really about. Lots of times I'll think it's about one thing and as I get a little distance from it—and by distance I mean like, say, seven or eight years—it suddenly becomes very obvious to me it was about something else entirely. It happens especially onstage. Periodically I do something older and I suddenly realize 'God—listen to what this is about. I can't believe that I said this in public.'"

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  music, writing, artist's message, Lou Reed, performance art

"Nothing is so destructive in a field of artistic effort as a stock term of abuse. Anyone could say of any short story, 'A mere anecdote' just as anyone can say 'Incoherent!' of any novel or of any sonata that isn't studiously monotonous. The recession of enthusiasm for this compact, amusing form is closely associated in my mind with that discouraging imputation."

— H.G. Wells

for Creatives  |  short stories, novel writing, music, writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, creative freedom, H.G. Wells

"Out-of-category authors have begun a journey that I wish all novelists would take: a journey away from what is comfortable and convention-bound to fiction that is free, courageous, inventive, and influential because it's utterly unique. It's a place where novelists don't obey genre rules, but summon them when they're useful and bend them to their own purposes."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, novel writing, writing, genre, Donald Maass, creative freedom, break the rules

"Your job is to look for surprises in the world.  And share them."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, artists must EXPERIENCE, David Gerrold

"One of the ways of understanding your unconscious is by realizing that in order to get into it you have to actually stop that garbagey analytical reflex voice in your head and induce a kind of trance state."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, Robert Olen Butler, writing

"Writers often revisit the same themes throughout their careers, examining them from various points of view."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's voice, artist's message, the creative life, Alan Watt

"If you are a screenwriter, LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to INDEPENDENT AND STUDIO. If you are a playwright, LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to CHARACTER DRIVEN AND PLOT DRIVEN. If you are a nonfiction writer LITERARY AND COMMERCIAL translates to JOURNALISM AND NARRATIVE NONFICTION. No matter your intended Story career path, the divide remains… and always will."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, nonfiction, writing, publishing, Shawn Coyne, screenwriting, categorization of art, literary vs. commercial

"My ideas drove me to it, you see.  The more I did, the more I wanted to do.  You grow ravenous.  You run fevers.  You know exhilarations.  You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed.  It is a grand way to live."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  inspiration/the muse, ideas, Ray Bradbury, the creative life

"I have the right to be certain of the sacredness of speech, and of the sanctity of the right to mock, comment, to argue and to utter."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist integrity, language, writing, protect the art, feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, creative freedom

"The dream of a story? This is a mood and a continent of thought below your conscious mind—a place that you get closer to with each foray into the words and worlds of your novel."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, novel writing, writing, storytelling, Walter Mosley

"You don't get sick days. A day you don't work is a day that accumulates nothing toward your needs. You're the hunter, now. You don't hunt? You don't eat."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Chuck Wendig, the creative life

"I did this book Different Seasons, they were stories that I had written like I write all of them, I get this idea, and I want to write this."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, create for YOURSELF, short stories, thriller, suspense, horror, ideas, Stephen King

Follow Your Curiosity

"Say it with conviction and honesty.  The danger is apologising for it being powerful; you have to let it be powerful.  Don't be spineless and do a joke.  Have the guts to see it through."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, comedy, Steve Coogan, value the art, comedy writing

"[Others'] objections should simply show you why [y]our work is so important."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  feedback/criticism/rejection, value the art, Jane Roberts

"Perhaps what we really crave is not to have more time or to have time off but to feel free of time. We want to experience what life would be like outside of time. Many people turn to drugs or alcohol just to have this experience. But we also experience this in dreams, stories, and our imagination. In these realms, we are free of time and space. (The opening phrase of fairy tales—'once upon a time'—doesn't mean 'a long time ago' but 'in a world beyond time.')"

— Martin Boroson

for Creatives  |  reading, magic/mystery of creating/art, Martin Boroson, storytelling, story beginnings

"Yell.  Jump.  Play.  Out-run those sons-of-bitches.  They'll never live the way you live.  Go do it."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, creative fear, Ray Bradbury, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life

"Something magical happened that night.  When I told that story, I felt an enormous listening coming from the audience, an enormous opening up.  I noticed that I could look into people's eyes more when I was speaking as myself as opposed to when I was speaking in character.  There was relating happening."

— Kevin Allison

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, magic/mystery of creating/art, artist integrity, reaching your audience, storytelling, comedy writing, Kevin Allison, performance art

"I have this saying: 'There's no music playing when your dreams are coming true.'  That is the hustle.  The hustle is humbling and, at best, completely authentic and gracious."

— Rebecca Rebouché

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, music, painting, Rebecca Rebouché

"Your goal, as a storyteller, is to evoke the sense of wonder in your audience.  You start by evoking the sense of wonder in yourself.  Where one person is awestruck, others are also likely to be amazed."

— David Gerrold

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, reaching your audience, storytelling, David Gerrold

"I felt almost dishonorable accepting people's thanks. I had forgotten what fiction was to me as a boy, forgotten what it was like in the library; fiction was an escape from the intolerable, a doorway into impossibly hospitable worlds where things had rules and could be understood; stories had been a way of learning about life without experiencing it."  (artist)

— Neil Gaiman (art by Ana Knezevic)

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Neil Gaiman, artists, value the art, Ana Knezevic, Croatian

"As a writer, it's important to manage your energy level. The craft we've chosen is amazing, but it's also one of the most sedentary ways to spend your time."

— Steve Scott

for Creatives  |  writing, the creative life, Steve Scott

"I had discovered the first kind of boundary that marks the twin genres of fantasy and science fiction: the publishing category."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, publishing, genre, Orson Scott Card, categorization of art

"I never thought of myself as a horror writer. That's what other people think. And I never said jack shit about it. [My wife] came from nothing, I came from nothing, we were terrified that they would take this thing away from us. So if the people wanted to say 'You're this,' as long as the books sold, that was fine. I thought, I am going to zip my lip and write what I wanted to write."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, novel writing, horror, writing, Stephen King, genre, creative freedom

"John Irving published five unsuccessful books before penning The World According to Garp, which quickly became an international best seller."

for Creatives  |  novel writing, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, John Irving, Steve Scott

Follow Your Curiosity

"Time-based work doesn't make as much sense as it once did, as ideas are not 'things' and can't be measured in units. An idea, conceived in just a moment, can have enormous implications. Thus an 'idea person' has a more flexible approach to time. She learns how to develop the special, and often quite eccentric, circumstances that encourage creativity, and to trust inspiration when it appears—no matter what the time. "

— Martin Boroson

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, artists, Martin Boroson, creativity, creating in the moment, inspiration/the muse, protect the art, creative block, ideas, the creative life, value the art

"Remember that pianist who said that if he did not practice every day he would know, if he did not practice for two days, the critics would know, after three days, his audiences would know.  A variation of this is true for writers."

— Ray Bradbury

for Creatives  |  music, writing, reaching your audience, KEEP CREATING, reviews, Ray Bradbury, feedback/criticism/rejection

"I'm trying to find truths that are underrepresented on screen, to embrace nuance and ambiguity."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, Steve Coogan, filmmaking, TV writing, value the art, acting

"Let's allow ourselves to have fun, to take risks, to make wild choices, and always, to hold it all loosely.  We are after a sense of aliveness and surprise."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, creative freedom, Alan Watt, TAKE RISKS

"The human condition resides in the details, the sense details."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  Robert Olen Butler, language, writing

"Piracy, good or bad, is not theft. It is perhaps a kind of parasitism? Combat it where you can, find value in it where you can't."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  Chuck Wendig, value the art, art piracy

"The most important factor in provoking readers to spread the word about a story is an effect that the Penn researchers call 'awe.' This they defined as an 'emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.' It demands of readers 'mental accommodation,' meaning readers must see the world in ways they didn't before." (artist)

— Donald Maass (artwork by Maurice Sendak)

for Creatives  |  reading, art, artists, writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass

"At this moment in my career, after publishing twenty-seven books and at least as many short stories, I still get rejected on a regular basis. Recently I wrote a story that every major magazine rejected. After going to the major presses, I went to the smaller ones. Nobody will publish it—nobody. So don't despair—accepting rejection is part of the job description."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, publishing, feedback/criticism/rejection, the creative life, Walter Mosley

"I believe that repressing ideas spreads ideas."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, ideas, creative freedom

"The science fiction and fantasy audience ... is the best audience in the world to write for. They're open-minded and intelligent. They want to think as well as feel, understand as well as dream. Above all, they want to be led into places that no one has ever visited before. It's a privilege to tell stories to these readers, and an honor when they applaud the tales you tell."

— Orson Scott Card

for Creatives  |  sci-fi, fantasy, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Orson Scott Card

"Thriller is its own Genre, but it came to be through a mashing up of three primal Genres that came before it: action, horror and crime."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  crime, action, thriller, horror, genre, Shawn Coyne

"In 2008, Horace Engdahl, then-secretary of the Swedish Academy, criticized American writers. He said that 'the U.S. is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature.' I beg to differ. There are plenty of us American writers working very much in 'dialogue' with the world. But he was right about one thing—the publishing world still does not represent that. It's time the Big Five publishers catch on."

— Vanessa Garcia

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, Vanessa Garcia

"We give a lot of advice to young writers: Read a lot. Study the classics. Write about what you know. Show, don't tell. But danger lies in teaching too much and warning too little. Rarely do we tell the would-be wordsmith: This is a hard road you're taking. Are you sure it is the one for you? Is there anything else, anything at all, you'd also enjoy doing? If so, go and do it. The world is wide open to you. Spare yourself the agony, young one."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, write what you know, writing, Nicki Porter

"Basically all thrillers are stories about human conflict.  You remember that when writing."

— Joseph Finder

for Creatives  |  thriller, writing, Joseph Finder

"What actually gives fiction its power is that which is personal."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, Donald Maass

"Once you are engaged in writing a piece of fiction from your unconscious, it is crucial that you write every day, because the nature of this place where you go is such that it's very difficult to find your way in. It's pure torture. But even though it's terrible getting in, once you’re in, if you keep going back every day, though it's still always daunting and difficult and scary, it's not nearly so much so."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, creating isn't easy, Robert Olen Butler, writing, KEEP CREATING

"By inquiring into what we feel strongly about, we are led directly to the seed of a powerful story."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, storytelling, Alan Watt

"A short story is a different thing altogether—a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, Stephen King

"You also need the conviction to say something and not bookend it with some sort of apology or qualification."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, Steve Coogan, artist's message

"Films are relatively short, and are comparable to long short stories or short novellas."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, filmmaking, Chuck Wendig, film based on short story, screenwriting

"There is a great demand for novels that can be positioned at the top of the commercial list—thrillers and/or dramas that women will want to read. All of the big publishers (with a contracting list of exceptions) are on the hunt for a female friendly literary/commercial commodity."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  novel writing, thriller, writing, reaching your audience, women's fiction, publishing, genre, Shawn Coyne, literary vs. commercial

"Unlike with screenplays, novels are meant to be read, not produced, and the finished book is a final product, ready to be consumed by an audience."

— Jeff Lyons

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, Jeff Lyons, screenwriting

"To write a story that truly surprises the reader, turns the reader's (and the writer's) preconceived notions inside out, requires unconditional empathy—the courage to imagine not just your hero's virtues but also his flaws in all their grotesque and destructive truth."

— Julia Fierro

for Creatives  |  characters, artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, Julia Fierro

"I wrote because I knew things were changing, and I knew it was my responsibility to record this change."

— Vanessa Garcia

for Creatives  |  writing, value the art, Vanessa Garcia

"Perhaps you keep your drafts folder to yourself, for your eyes only.  You have never submitted.  You're too busy, you say; you'll start another day.  You write for you.  And you secretly fear hearing what an editor has to say.  I urge you: Put yourself out there."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, creative fear, writing, Nicki Porter

"Writing a novel is a lot harder than writing nonfiction."

— Joseph Finder

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, Joseph Finder

"You need a physical space—private, safe, and just for you. When you are in this space, you are not available. I repeat, you are not available. This is your sacred space to be by and with yourself. We all need safe containers."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  creative process, protect the art, Elle Luna

"If you skip a day or more between your writing sessions, your mind will drift away from these deep moments of your story. You will find that you'll have to slog back to a place that would have been easily attained if only you wrote every day."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, KEEP CREATING, Walter Mosley

"If you only write when inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you'll never be a novelist."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, novel writing, writing, poetry, KEEP CREATING, inspiration/the muse

"This is challenging.  It is courageous.  It is something that no one out there will ever encourage us to do.  The desire must come from within.  It is the soft whisper at the edges of our consciousness.  Our soul aches to know life in a way we can't grasp with our conscious mind.  Writers are idealists.  At our best, we are more interested in the nature of things than we are in our own particular struggle."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, Alan Watt

"Ask readers what they love about great novels and most often they mention great characters."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass

"The way you'll know that you're writing from your head [rather than from your intuition] is that you'll look at your story and find it full of abstraction and generalization and summary and analysis and interpretation."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, pantsing vs. plotting, Robert Olen Butler, writing

"The thriller is the dominant Story form today because it serves the largest segment of society, those overwhelmed by the threats of modern life."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  thriller, writing, reaching your audience, genre, Shawn Coyne

"When you sit down to write, write. Don't do anything else except go to the bathroom."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, KEEP CREATING, Stephen King

"I am a deep believer in the act of writing as a powerful tool for many things. It has always been my way of processing events, of processing the world that I see. "

— Nellie Hermann

for Creatives  |  writing, value the art, Nellie Hermann

"There are certain kinds of songs you write that are just fun songs—the lyric really can't survive without the music. But for most of what I do, the idea behind it was to try and bring a novelist's eye to it, and, within the framework of rock and roll, to try to have that lyric there so somebody who enjoys being engaged on that level could have that and have the rock and roll too."

— Lou Reed

for Creatives  |  novel writing, music, writing, reaching your audience, Lou Reed

"I work hard at the words, rewriting, finding the right words, the ones where no other word would suit, only those words."

— Edna O'Brien

for Creatives  |  language, writing, rewriting, Edna O'Brien

"The movie or TV show is the finished product; a screenplay is not.  Scripts are only one step in a complex chain of events leading to the final show or film."

— Jeff Lyons

for Creatives  |  writing, filmmaking, TV writing, Jeff Lyons, screenwriting

"We suffered then, as now, from the à priori critic. Just as nowadays [the critic] goes about declaring that the work of such-and-such a dramatist is all very amusing and delightful, but 'it isn’t a Play,' so we had a great deal of talk about the short story, and found ourselves measured by all kinds of arbitrary standards. There was a tendency to treat the short story as though it was as definable a form as the sonnet, instead of being just exactly what anyone of courage and imagination can get told in twenty minutes’ reading or so."

— H.G. Wells

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, reviews, H.G. Wells

"The very denial of politics was a political statement.  And I knew this, as I continued to write."

— Vanessa Garcia

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's message, Vanessa Garcia

"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

— Toni Morrison

for Creatives  |  reading, create for YOURSELF, novel writing, writing, Toni Morrison

"Read the books: sometimes you can catch sight of [the authors] in there. We look like gods and fools and bards and queens, singing worlds into existence, conjuring something from nothing, juggling words into all the patterns of night. Read the books. That's when you see us properly: naked priestesses and priests of forgotten religions, our skins glistening with scented oils, scarlet blood dripping down from our hands, bright birds flying out from our open mouths. Perfect, we are, and beautiful in the fire's golden light."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Neil Gaiman, artist in the art, writing

"Although practice makes perfect, perfection must also be practiced. Either way, practice is the key."

— Martin Boroson

for Creatives  |  Martin Boroson, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING

"You might think that you can't poke fun at old Irish ladies because it's bullying behaviour.  Of course you can, so long as there's warmth.  You can have a good raucous laugh at someone and ultimately dignify them at the same time.  That ambiguity is real, it's human."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  Steve Coogan, comedy writing

"It's time to stop asking for permission. Storytellers have been cast in a submissive role for a long time."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, storytelling, Chuck Wendig, creative freedom

"The connections, moods, metaphors, and experiences that you call up while writing will come from a place deep inside you. Sometimes you will wonder who wrote those words."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  Walter Mosley

"Screenwriters and novelists see the world in very different ways, and have very different observing devices for interpreting their fictional worlds.  Shifting from a screenwriting sensibility to a prose sensibility is the hardest hurdle you will face and also the most difficult one to wrap your head around."

— Jeff Lyons

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, Jeff Lyons, screenwriting

"I tend to write about things from wherever I am standing, and that means I include possibly too much me in the things I write."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist in the art, writing, artist's voice

"Ultimately, the question 'Who's the target reader, and why?' must be answered by everyone in the publishing chain (writer, editor, marketer, publicist, publisher). Identifying the audience (the people who will buy your book) defines which of these two cultures 'Literary' or 'Commercial' you belong to."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, editors, Shawn Coyne, categorization of art, literary vs. commercial

"Writing is a subjective sport, I'm afraid.  Strap on your helmet and flash your skinned knees with pride.  After all, only those with the courage to submit can be rejected."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, publishing, feedback/criticism/rejection, Nicki Porter

"There are many factors that create a writer and the most significant is need.  I often joke, when talking at literary conferences and events, that if we, the writers, could choose to stop, we would.  For most of us, the need to make sense of and organize life through story, particularly its traumatic moments, was born many years before we penned our first title."

— Julia Fierro

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, the creative life, design your life, Julia Fierro, writing conferences

"We never want our idea of our story to get in the way of letting our characters live." (artist)

— Alan Watt (artwork by Andrew Ferez)

for Creatives  |  characters, pantsing vs. plotting, art, artists, writing, Andrew Ferez, Alan Watt

"No one says a novel has to be one thing.  It can be anything it wants to be, a vaudeville show, the six o'clock news, the mumblings of wild men saddled by demons."

— Ishmael Reed

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, creative freedom, Ishmael Reed

"If when we least expect it, you surprise us with ourselves, that impact is huge. When a setting is outside our experience yet also feels like our native land, that impact is lasting."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass

"Artists are not intellectuals. We are sensualists. The objects we create are sensual objects."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  art, artists, Robert Olen Butler, writing

"Technologies come and go. The story remains constant. More to the point, our need for stories remain constant. Storytellers and writers aren't going anywhere. They may need to bend with the wind. They may need to find new ways to thrive. But they—we—will always have a place. The audience will be there."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, storytelling, Chuck Wendig, value the art, books vs. ebooks, etc.

"Cliché as the idea of the 'writer's responsibility' might sound, I felt it in my bones.  I had always felt it, despite having tried to keep it at bay for so many years."

— Vanessa Garcia

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's message, Vanessa Garcia

"The most important thing I've found about writing is that it is primarily an unconscious activity. What do I mean by this? I mean that a novel is larger than your head (or conscious mind)."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, magic/mystery of creating/art, novel writing, writing, Walter Mosley

"As we get older, each thing we do, each thing we write reminds us of something else we've done. Events rhyme. Nothing quite happens for the first time anymore."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  creative process, Neil Gaiman, writing

"Just because they have a wide audience that will buy whatever they write does not mean they wrote a Story that worked."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, storytelling, Shawn Coyne

"Your work will be rejected.  Often, always, and forever.  Good work.  Quality work.  Publishable work.  Work you've born your soul into.  You will be turned down not only for logic and for reason, but for the silliest of subjectivities: The editor's cat has just died, and your work is too sad.  The agent is moving in a darker publishing direction; your work is too light.  Your poems are too short.  Your essays are too long.  We've seen this before.  We've never seen this before and wouldn't know how to market it.  It's good, but it won't sell.  It's good, but it's just not right for us.  You do understand, don't you?"

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, publishing, editors, feedback/criticism/rejection, Nicki Porter

"There is enormous value to imagining the world of our story prior to writing it or even outlining it."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, Alan Watt

"High-impact 21st century fiction is built on unique voices, uncommon characters, and tales that can only be told by a particular author. They're sui generis."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, artist's voice, Donald Maass

"When writing your comedy, remember ... the story is way more important than the jokes."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  writing, Stephen Gregg, comedy writing

"Creativity is what makes this whole human race not just function, but evolve."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  creativity, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"Literature—language, fiction—does not as a medium force you to leave your ideas behind. And if you think it into being, if you will a story into being, by God, it's going to show."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  structured writing & plotting/outlining, pantsing vs. plotting, Robert Olen Butler, writing, ideas

"Being a writer is about presenting the way that you think to the world, and it doesn't really matter what kind of pieces you do, but you have a mindset and that's what you're bringing to the table."

— Bijan Stephen

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's voice, Bijan Stephen

"Never use screenwriters as your [novel] beta readers.  You need feedback from people who are voracious book readers, not film/TV fans."

— Jeff Lyons

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, editing, Jeff Lyons, screenwriting

"Storytelling is how we—not just writers, everyone—practice our humanity, by trying to make sense of the world and our place in it."

— Julia Fierro

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, value the art, Julia Fierro

"Sing for the teacher who told you that you couldn't sing."

— Amanda Palmer

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, music, Amanda Palmer, singing

"The only way, I think, to learn to write short stories is to write them, and then to try to discover what you have done."

— Flannery O'Connor

for Creatives  |  short stories, writing, never stop LEARNING, Flannery O'Connor

"Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth."

— Khaled Hosseini

for Creatives  |  writing, value the art, Khaled Hosseini

"My family begged me to remain apolitical when writing about Cuba.  I understood where they were coming from, but I wasn't sure it was possible.  Wasn't writing itself a political act?"

— Vanessa Garcia

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's message, creative freedom, Vanessa Garcia

"No matter what we write or how well we write it, we must all eventually make peace with the constant sting of rejection."

— Nicki Porter

for Creatives  |  writing, feedback/criticism/rejection, Nicki Porter

Neil Gaiman - "Exploring Models of Online Storytelling"

(keynote address, Digital Minds Conference, 2013)

for Creatives  |  books, Neil Gaiman, videos, writing, storytelling, value the art, books vs. ebooks, etc., art piracy

Follow Your Curiosity

"[It] is also a symbolic act, a ritual of preparation, in which you reinforce the importance of what you're about to do and remind yourself that you take it seriously. A ritual involves clearing a space for something powerful to happen, and in making this space, you improve your chances of success."

— Martin Boroson

for Creatives  |  creative process, Martin Boroson, value the art

"The time that any artistic creator is involved with follows earth's own time. ... The creator's time rises out of the seasons and the tides, even though in your society you make a great effort to fit the creator's time into ... assembly-line time."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  artists, the creative life, Jane Roberts

"I was used to uniting an audience with humour; this time, I wanted to unite an audience with humanity."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Steve Coogan, filmmaking, artist's message, comedy writing, performance art

"Consider what goes on within you when you read a wonderful work of fiction. The experience is, in fact, a kind of cinema of the inner consciousness."

— Robert Olen Butler (artwork by Antje Vernon)

for Creatives  |  reading, artists, Robert Olen Butler, Antje Vernon

"Short stories will teach you to write. It's that easy. Short fiction requires a heightened focus on sharp storytelling and crafty writing. A novel lets you get lazy. Short stories demand you to write in tip-top shape. You'll learn to say more with less."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  short stories, novel writing, writing, storytelling, Chuck Wendig, never stop LEARNING

"The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day. ... There are two reasons for this rule: getting the work done and connecting with your unconscious mind."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, KEEP CREATING, Walter Mosley

"I believe that you have the absolute right to think things that I find offensive, stupid, preposterous or dangerous, and that you have the right to speak, write, or distribute these things, and that I do not have the right to kill you, maim you, hurt you, or take away your liberty or property because I find your ideas threatening or insulting or downright disgusting. You probably think some of my ideas are pretty vile too."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, value the art, creative freedom

"Estimates reach as high as 70% of the entire book buying market being women."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  reading, reaching your audience, Shawn Coyne

"Stories are the most important thing we humans can create."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, value the art, Shawn Coyne

"What we feel strongly about is that thing we want to stand on our rooftop and shout to the world, that thing we would die for, that thing we are uniquely qualified to express.  What we feel strongly about is not the plot, but rather the underlying meaning that drives the plot.  What is that thing?  Be curious.  Because that is what your story is about. "

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, storytelling, artist's message, Alan Watt

"To infuse a novel with a significance that speaks to many requires, paradoxically, that you ignore what the public wants and focus instead on what matters to you."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass

"Escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in control, are with people you want to be with (and books are real places, make no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons, give you armor: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, books, Neil Gaiman, writer-reader relationship, value the art

"Sometimes inspiration strikes and we sit down to write. But a writer knows the reverse is more common. We start to write and the ideas come."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, inspiration/the muse, ideas, Stephen Gregg

"That's really the best ambition, to be hungry for sensual experience in your life. Ravenous."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  Robert Olen Butler, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life

"Particularly if you want to make a living at your art, you fall into the frame of mind in which you think that 'each minute is valuable'—but what you mean is that each minute must be a minute of production. But each moment must be valuable in itself, whatever you do with it."

— Jane Roberts

for Creatives  |  art, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, value the art, Jane Roberts

"It's more exciting to touch people than to make them laugh. ... If you manage to make laughter and emotion work side by side, it can be transcendent."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Steve Coogan, comedy writing

"Deny anybody who wants you to work for free. If you work for free, that's something you do, not something someone asks of you—doubly true where they're making money and you're not."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, publishing, Chuck Wendig, value the art

"I write three hours every morning. It's the first thing I do, Monday through Sunday, fifty-two weeks a year. Some days I miss but rarely does this happen more than once a month. Writing is a serious enterprise that takes a certain amount of constancy and rigor."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  writing, KEEP CREATING, the creative life, Walter Mosley

"When you're stuck, when you need a jolt, when you crave to see things from a new perspective, it's time to play." (artist)

— Elle Luna (photo by Yuriy Balan)

for Creatives  |  creative process, photography, artists, creative block, artists must EXPERIENCE, Yuriy Balan, Elle Luna

"I like the idea that one day I'll do something that really works, even if I fear that I've been saying the same things for over thirty years."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, artist integrity, creative fear, KEEP CREATING

"Male writers with female readers also feature strong female characters in their novels."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  characters, novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, Shawn Coyne

"The desire to write is connected to the desire to evolve."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  writing, Alan Watt

"You wake up fresh, with a full bar of willpower. This is the absolute perfect time to write. ... If you wake up and write, you know it got done. You also know you did your best writing."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  writing, the creative life, Chris Fox

"Literary/commercial fiction is a forecast of where fiction is heading in the 21st century. It's an approach to novel writing that eschews both snobby pretense and genre dogma. It is personal, impassioned, and even downright quirky, yet through its rebellious refusal to please, it paradoxically achieves universal appeal. It panders to no one. It speaks to everyone."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  novel writing, literary fiction, writing, genre, Donald Maass, literary vs. commercial

"Skip the dull set up. The audience craves the compelling parts, even likes the quick mental work of filling in the gaps."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Stephen Gregg

"The verbal diarrhoea you might encounter somewhere like California is the enemy of creativity.  It's what isn't said that is the lifeblood of any writing."

— Steve Coogan

for Creatives  |  creativity, writing, Steve Coogan

"You are what you write and how you write it."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, writing, Don Fry

"Artists are intensely aware of the chaos implied by the moment-to-moment sensual experience of human beings on this planet. But they also, paradoxically, have an intuition that behind the chaos there is meaning; behind the flux of moment-to-moment experience there is a deep and abiding order. "

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  artists, Robert Olen Butler, creativity, the creative life

"A novel is perhaps better seen as a season of serialized (not episodic) television."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  TV series, novel writing, Chuck Wendig

"You may have spent only an hour and a half working on the book, but the rest of the day will be rife with motive moments in your unconsciousness—moments in your mind, which will be mulling over the places your words have touched. While you sleep, mountains are moving deep within your psyche. When you wake up and return to the book, you will be amazed by the realization that you are further along than when you left off yesterday."

— Walter Mosley

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, Walter Mosley

"Literature does not occur in a vacuum. It cannot be a monologue. It has to be a conversation, and new people, new readers, need to be brought into the conversation too."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  reading, Neil Gaiman, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, value the art

"There are two categories in book publishing, like yin and yang, light and dark, wet and dry. There is 'literary' and 'commercial.' The divide seems ridiculous of course, akin to the old chicken and egg debate. Obviously, what is literary must be commercial too and what is commercial is also literary."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  novel writing, literary fiction, publishing, Shawn Coyne

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."

— George R.R. Martin

for Creatives  |  reading, books, George R.R. Martin

"When we make the story more important than the result, the story has a chance to live. "

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, value the art, Alan Watt

"High impact comes from a combination of two factors: great stories and beautiful writing. High-impact novels utilize what is best about literary and commercial fiction. They embrace a dichotomy. They do everything well and as a result sell astoundingly. The publishing industry has a convenient term for these wonder books: literary/commercial fiction."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  novel writing, literary fiction, the successful artist, writing, Donald Maass

"If your character doesn't have a goal, she's just a bunch of your words deceptively held together by an actor."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, acting, Stephen Gregg

"The writing game has a tinge of outlaw culture, which makes writers look where others don't.  It's called 'contrarian thinking.'" (artist)

— Don Fry (photo by Danny Lyon)

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, the creative life, Don Fry, Danny Lyon

"The artist shares her intuition of the world's order with the philosophers, the theologians, the scientists, the psychoanalysts—there are lots of people who believe there is order in the universe."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  artists, Robert Olen Butler, creativity, philosophy, spirituality

"I fled, or at least, backed awkwardly away from journalism because I wanted the freedom to make things up. I did not want to be nailed to the truth; or to be more accurate, I wanted to be able to tell the truth without ever needing to worry about the facts."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, writing, storytelling, creative freedom

"Literary and commercial: If you are a writer, an editor or a publisher in traditional trade book publishing, you have to decide which of these two cultures you want to align yourself with."

— Shawn Coyne

for Creatives  |  literary fiction, writing, publishing, editors, agents, Shawn Coyne, literary vs. commercial

"Creativity is not an occupation; it is our birthright.  It is a way for us to make meaning of our lives, to reframe our relationship to the world, to communicate the deepest aspects of ourselves."

— Alan Watt

for Creatives  |  creativity, Alan Watt

"The more sudden are the turns, the steeper the climbs, and the most astounding the vistas, the more readers will connect to the landscape. The trip you take them on is one they'll take inside. It will feel like a memory, even though you invented it at the keyboard."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass

"First rule of writing a play (or acting, lighting design, directing): Make a choice. You can always change it later."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, acting, Stephen Gregg, playwriting

"You have to let go of that comforting, distancing voice, you have to then descend into that deep dream space of yours, and that will result in a kind of superconcentration. Psychologists call it the 'flow state,' being in the flow. Athletes call it being 'in the zone.'"

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creative process, Robert Olen Butler

"A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

— Steve Jobs

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, Steve Jobs

"You can escape your teachers. ... Your teachers taught writing methods suited to themselves, not to you."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  writing, never stop LEARNING, Don Fry

"High-impact fiction requires high courage. It means not only doing something different, but delving into what matters to you: what terrifies, outrages, grieves, inspires, hurts, and heals you."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Donald Maass

"Conflict is all. Watching combat—dialogue back and forth—transfixes an audience like a tennis match. They won't have time to get bored."

— Stephen Gregg

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Stephen Gregg

"If you want to think your way into your fiction, if you think you can analyze your way into a work of art, we're going to be totally at odds philosophically about what art is and where it comes from."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, Robert Olen Butler, writing

"I'm trying to show the multiple variations of the entire life. I don't want to be like other authors and say that there are only a few story lines in literature. A story is like a human face. We have as many stories as human faces. You might have similar facial features, but they’re all a little different." (artist)

— Svetlana Alexievich (photo of Terry Gilliam, by Allan Amato)

for Creatives  |  photography, artists, writing, storytelling, Svetlana Alexievich, Terry Gilliam, Allan Amato

"Aesthetics is for artists as ornithology is for the birds."

— Barnett Newman

for Creatives  |  art, artists, Barnett Newman

"Deconstruct out-of-category novels and certain common factors emerge: characters we immediately care about, unique worlds, universal human experiences, high tension, plot layers, parallels, reversals, symbols, strong themes. But there's also an X factor: such fiction is personal, meaning that it directly reflects the author's own experience."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, Donald Maass

"If you're not prioritizing the things you say you care about, consider the possibility that you don't actually care about those things."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  KEEP CREATING, protect the art, value the art, Elle Luna

"The artistic medium of fiction writers—language—is not innately sensual. The medium is unforgiving whenever we look for it in our minds. Some visual artists do a lot of conceptualizing and still end up creating terrific works of art. They are able to do so because once they get out there in front of their canvases or their blocks of granite, they have to leave those ideas behind. The medium itself won't let them think."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, artists, Robert Olen Butler, writing, ideas, sculpture, painting

Harlan Ellison - "Pay the Writer"

(from film documentary Dreams with Sharp Teeth)

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, videos, film, writing, documentary, protect the art, value the art, Harlan Ellison

Follow Your Curiosity

"The so-called Stanislavsky Method rests on two principles: that the actor's body is an instrument that must be supple, strong, and prepared; and that craft is always secondary to the truth of emotional connection."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, Robert Olen Butler, writing, reaching your audience, value the art, acting

"You must always keep changing your process!  Because there are two of you, one who wants to write and one who doesn't. The one who wants to write has to keep fooling the one who doesn't."

— María Irene Fornés

for Creatives  |  creative process, creating isn't easy, writing, KEEP CREATING, María Irene Fornés

"Man, if you gotta ask, you'll never know." (in answer to being asked to define jazz)

— Louis Armstrong

for Creatives  |  magic/mystery of creating/art, art, music, value the art, Louis Armstrong

"Share your Must, and in so doing, lift the lives of others. ... When you choose Must, you inspire others to choose it, too."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  reaching your audience, value the art, artists supporting artists, Elle Luna

"For me, the thing that triggers the moment in my unconscious when a character is ready to speak or be spoken of, ready to be a story, is a flash of intuition about that character's yearning. What is it at her deepest level that she yearns for?" (artist)

— Robert Olen Butler (art by Ture Ekroos)

for Creatives  |  characters, creative process, art, artists, Robert Olen Butler, writing, Ture Ekroos

"Don't read about the period that you're researching, read in the period … magazines, memoirs, letters that were written in that period, and take no notes. Because when you come to write the thing, if you've taken notes you think you have to use them, whereas if you've immersed yourself in the period, what you need will come to you." (paraphrased)

— Mary Lee Settle

for Creatives  |  creative process, historical, writing, Mary Lee Settle

"When the values underneath your story make us uncomfortable but also somehow sit well with us, that impact is deep. "

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass

"The novel is a pack of lies hounding the truth."

— Carlos Fuentes

for Creatives  |  novel writing, Carlos Fuentes

"Because of the creative writing pedagogy in this country, and because of the nature of this art form, and because of the medium you work with, and because of the rigors of artistic vision, and because of youth, and because no one has ever told you these things clearly, the great likelihood is that all of the fiction you've written is mortally flawed [stemming from analyzation rather than the unconscious]."

— Robert Olen Butler

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, Robert Olen Butler, writing

The Crossroads of Should and Must

Find and Follow Your Passion... (written & illustrated by Elle Luna)

for Creatives  |  books, art, nonfiction, creativity, the creative life, Elle Luna, priorities, design your life

Follow Your Curiosity

"You decide you're a best-selling author, then your mind will subtly reinforce that. It will begin noticing the things that will help you achieve that goal, and it will keep doing so until your goal is a reality."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, Chris Fox

"Plungers organize by drafting."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, writing, Don Fry

"In our new century, literary fiction is selling the way that commercial novels are supposed to. ... Certain commercial novelists, on the other hand, are celebrated for their literary quality and simultaneously sell far better than most in their category."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  novel writing, literary fiction, the successful artist, Donald Maass, literary vs. commercial

"It is our job to ruin the perfection of the empty page. It is our job to disrupt the status quo: because that's what storytelling is. Taking a straight line and bending it, breaking it, shaping it into something far stranger and far greater. "

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, artist's voice, storytelling, Chuck Wendig

"When you follow Must every day, you impact not only what you create for your work, but also who you become in your life. This is how your work and your life become one and the same. When you choose Must, what you create is yourself. It is a body of work. As you change, so too does the work. As you grow, so too does the creation."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, artists, artist in the art, the creative life, Elle Luna, never stop LEARNING

"Most of these people have stopped dreaming. They don't share your vision for an amazing future. Life has ground them down to be 'practical'. To get a day job and do what's expected of them. In short, people who can't see it for themselves can't see it in you."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  artists, protect the art, the creative life, Chris Fox

"What matters to me is that they have the books and they love them. ... And they'll tell people about them."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  books, Neil Gaiman, writing, reaching your audience, art piracy

"Outlines help some writers organize their thoughts.  But outlines imprison others and keep them from thinking clearly."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  structured writing & plotting/outlining, pantsing vs. plotting, writing, Don Fry

"To explain things clearly, you connect the unknown to what your audience already knows.  Stories draw on common human knowledge and experience, and link those knowns to the unknown, or the old to the new."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  writing, reaching your audience, storytelling, Don Fry

"Keep reminding yourself that literature is one of the saddest roads that leads to everything."

— André Breton

for Creatives  |  writing, André Breton

"When you play with new tools and methods, you will literally activate parts of your mind that have become hard to reach over time."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  Elle Luna, never stop LEARNING

"The first use for propinquity is removing all the little barriers that will keep you from writing. The more of these exist, the less likely you are to write. Many of them are simple, and some so tiny you may doubt that they'll keep you from writing. But they will."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, writing, writer's block, protect the art, the creative life, Chris Fox

"To write high-impact 21st-century fiction, you must start by becoming highly personal. Find your voice, yes, but more than that, challenge yourself to be unafraid, independent, open, aware, and true to your own heart. You must become your most authentic self."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, Donald Maass

"We always write from partial knowledge."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  write what you know, writing, Don Fry

Ray Bradbury - "Telling the Truth"

(keynote address, Sixth Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, 2001)

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, videos, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, inspiration/the muse, ideas, Ray Bradbury, the creative life, never stop LEARNING

Follow Your Curiosity

"I will sign anything. ... If they can't afford a new book, I'll give them something to read and enjoy in the meantime. They'll pass it on to their friends."

— Neil Gaiman

for Creatives  |  Neil Gaiman, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship

"Vision needs solitude. Leadership needs solitude. Courage needs solitude. Because when our choices evolve from an internal place of sure-footed, rooted knowing, we become resilient, emboldened, and focused."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, solitude of creating, protect the art, Elle Luna

"Your body and brain are the Story-Engine. Keep them primed to write."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  writing, protect the art, Chuck Wendig, the creative life

"The characters who resonate most widely today don't merely reflect our times, they reflect ourselves. That's true whether we're talking about genre fare, historicals, satire, or serious literary stuff. Revealing human truths means transcending tropes, peering into the past with fresh eyes, unearthing all that is hidden, and moving beyond what is easy and comfortable to write what is hard and even painful to face."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, creating isn't easy, artist integrity, writing, Donald Maass

"If you're at the stage where you only have one or two books out please take this to heart: It will get better, and it will become easier. All you have to do is keep writing, and keep learning."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, KEEP CREATING, never stop LEARNING, Chris Fox

"Naps are essential to my process. Not dreams, but that state adjacent to sleep, the mind on waking." (artist)

— William Gibson (art by Erin Owens)

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, Erin Owens, William Gibson

"Think larger and smaller at the same time.  Enlarge the context to find the bigger subject in a wider perspective or a longer time frame.  Narrow the context by finding individuals who exemplify something large."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  creative process, Don Fry

"When you live the fullness of your life, you lift the collective human experience.'

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, Elle Luna

What is success in the 21st century? It's novels that invent their own unique form, spring from a personal place, enact a passionate intent, and prove it by reaching a broad readership. It's both great reviews and great sales. It's moving hearts and changing minds. It's winning accolades and winning the devotion of readers. It's finding a way through your fiction to convey what you alone see, yet we all come to accept as the truth.

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  awards, artist integrity, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, reviews, writer-reader relationship, artist's message, Donald Maass

"Writing is winning. Always. It's not the only win condition: but it's always the first step."

— Chuck Wendig

for Creatives  |  the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Chuck Wendig

"Future You is watching. Don't disappoint them. You know you are capable of more, so get your ass in that chair and do the work. Every day. You know you're capable of it, and Future You is already thanking you from your mansion on the beach."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, KEEP CREATING, Chris Fox

"Voice is what makes writing individual and compelling."

— Don Fry

for Creatives  |  writing, artist's voice, Don Fry

"When you know why you are here—what you were put on this earth to do—it is challenging to go back to life as you knew it and be satisfied."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, the creative life, Elle Luna

"Truth that is naked is the most beautiful, and the simpler its expression the deeper is the impression it makes."

— Arthur Schopenhauer

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, reaching your audience, Arthur Schopenhauer

"Good books don't give up all their secrets at once."

— Stephen King

for Creatives  |  books, novel writing, writing, Stephen King

"If you want to write every day without fail, then you need to convince your subconscious that you're the type of author who writes every day. It needs to be a standard, an unwavering commitment to follow through every day."

— Chris Fox

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, KEEP CREATING, Chris Fox

Saving Mr. Banks

(written by Kelly Marcel & Sue Smith, starring Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson & Paul Giamatti)

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, art, artists, drama, film, artist in the art, comedy, biography, writing, Tom Hanks, filmmaking, storytelling, Ruth Wilson, Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti

Follow Your Curiosity

The minute you try to think about what people want, you're dead.

— William Zinsser

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, reaching your audience, William Zinsser

"The author T.S. Eliot was also a banker. Another writer, Kurt Vonnegut, sold cars. One of the greatest composers of our time, Philip Glass, didn’t earn a living from his calling making music until he was forty-two. Even as his work was premiering at the Met, he worked as a plumber and renewed his taxi license, just in case."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  creating isn't easy, artists, music, writing, the creative life, T.S. Eliot, Kurt Vonnegut, Elle Luna, Philip Glass

"Inspiration is another name for knowing your job and getting down to it."

— Joyce Cary

for Creatives  |  inspiration/the muse, the creative life, Joyce Cary

"What if who we are and what we do become one and the same? What if our work is so thoroughly autobiographical that we can't parse the product from the person? In this place, job descriptions and titles no longer make sense; we no longer go to work, we are the work."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  artist in the art, the creative life, Elle Luna

"It's not what an artist does that counts, but what he is."

— Pablo Picasso (art by same)

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, art, artists, artist in the art, the creative life, painting, Pablo Picasso

"I'm interested in individuality, not originality for its own sake."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, agents, Russell Galen

"I want the books to speak for themselves. You can read? All right, tell me what my books mean. Astonish me."

— Bernard Malamud

for Creatives  |  reading, books, novel writing, writing, artist's message, value the art, Bernard Malamud, art interpretation

"Picasso had incredible talent, but the secret to his genius was this—Picasso’s life blended seamlessly with his work."

— Elle Luna

for Creatives  |  the creative life, value the art, painting, Elle Luna, Pablo Picasso

"Bond me to your characters.  Put them through a fearsome story.  Force me to feel what they feel.  Show me how they change.  Finally, make me see things your way."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass

"Working on something over a long period gives a sense of richness that you can't fake."

— Donna Tartt

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, the creative life, Donna Tartt

"If the desire to write is not accompanied by actual writing, then the desire must be not to write."

— Hugh Prather

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, KEEP CREATING, Hugh Prather

"More than anything, it's about telling your story through the viewpoint of characters who you'd spend four hours with over dinner, then spend four more hours with the next night.  If you can bring characters to life and invent a voice for them, so that they seem to be speaking in our own heads as we read, you will have a highly readable manuscript."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, storytelling, Russell Galen

"Aren't the people who have had the most influence on you the ones who caused you to look at things in a new light?  Bingo.  Be that novelist."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass

"Writers are not here to conform. We are here to challenge ... That's our job."

— Jeanette Winterson

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, creative freedom, Jeanette Winterson

"Wear your heart on the page, and people will read to find out how you solved being alive."

— Gordon Lish

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, Gordon Lish

"Great fiction opens readers' hearts and, once they are captive and pliant, then opens their minds." (artist)

— Donald Maass (art by Paulo Zerbato)

for Creatives  |  reading, art, artists, writing, writer-reader relationship, Donald Maass, Paulo Zerbato

"Readability ... when you encounter it, it's as obvious and recognizable as a mountain. ... It's a way of writing.  It's sentence structure, the balance between show and tell, the balance between prose and dialogue, the balance between narration and interior monologue, the balance between ideas and action, and many other things."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, ideas, Russell Galen

"The books a writer reads are so important; they form a compost bed beneath the rosebushes of her own writing."

— Ben Dolnick

for Creatives  |  reading, books, writing, inspiration/the muse, Ben Dolnick

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story."

— Orson Welles

for Creatives  |  writing, storytelling, story endings, Orson Welles

"I type in one place, but I write all over the house."

— Toni Morrison

for Creatives  |  creative process, writing, Toni Morrison, the creative life

"Douse your main characters in gasoline.  Have your secondary characters throw Molotov cocktails.  You are a god hurling thunderbolts—or you can be."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  characters, writing, Donald Maass

"The elusive quality of readability is the heart of everything we seek in publishing."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  reading, writing, publishing, Russell Galen

"Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught."

— Ai Weiwei

for Creatives  |  creativity, creative block, Ai Weiwei

"The best thing we can do is give ourselves the gift of being free from the fear of failure.  Negative thinking can lead to anxiety and depression, and these are certain creativity killers."

— Al Jenkins

for Creatives  |  creative fear, creativity, creative block, creative freedom, Al Jenkins

"Write high-impact fiction ... Do it for you.  Do it for me.  The night is long.  The hours of darkness are dull.  We need more fireworks."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  create for YOURSELF, writing, writer-reader relationship, value the art, Donald Maass

"As writers, we were driven to feature women like us, to tell our stories in a vernacular descriptive of our own lives, our hopes and fears, neuroses and dreams."

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  characters, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, women's fiction, Freya North

"Just write the stories you want to write.  If you are writing about authentic characters, we (agents, then editors, then readers) will care."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  characters, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, editors, agents, Russell Galen

"Explaining what you do and how you do it to the young and enthusiastic, while showing them how to nurture their own talents, can reignite your own writing passion."

— Leigh Anne Jasheway

for Creatives  |  writing, inspiration/the muse, artists supporting artists, Leigh Anne Jasheway

"There are no mistakes in art.  There are accidents—and accidents can lead to something new."

— Al Jenkins

for Creatives  |  creative process, art, inspiration/the muse, value the art, Al Jenkins

"Too many manuscripts tell their stories with timidity.  What's needed instead are explosive bursts of divinity: Eruptions of insight, booms of self-revelation, scenes that flare open in the dark, prose that sizzles like sparklers."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Donald Maass

"I don't like labels.  I don't like it when bookstores have sections labeled 'Women's Fiction' because they don't have sections labeled 'Men's Fiction.'"

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  books, bookstores, women's fiction, genre, Freya North, categorization of art

"Creativity begets creativity.  I always feel more creative after I've helped children explore their own artistic talents."

— Maiya Becker

for Creatives  |  artists, creativity, artists supporting artists, Maiya Becker

"The biggest entertainment in New York City is not Broadway, the Philharmonic or the Yankees: It's to go out to dinner with an interesting writer.  These are the most interesting people on the planet.  When they are able to decant that personality into a work of fiction, the rest of the world gets to experience for $24.95 what I get to experience for the going rate for a good meal for two in Manhattan."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, agents, Russell Galen

"Adults who take the time to play are more creative than those who don't." (artist)

— Leigh Anne Jasheway (photo by Yuriy Balan)

for Creatives  |  photography, artists, creativity, artists must EXPERIENCE, Yuriy Balan, Leigh Anne Jasheway

"I usually don't have a preconceived notion of what I'm going to create.  Most of the time I sketch with no goal or objective.  My hand will draw something and then it reveals itself to me."

— Noelle Dass

for Creatives  |  creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, art, artists, creating in the moment, painting, Noelle Dass

"I believe in sending characters down fearful paths.  Stories pushed beyond the limits of comfort stick in readers' imaginations."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  reading, characters, writing, reaching your audience, Donald Maass

"I don't know quite how the story will unfold.  I never write to a plan—but somehow, I know that I've 'seen' the entire book flash across my mind's eye like a speeded-up movie.  My process is to slow it all down, to start at Chapter 1 and write down what I see, scene by scene."

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  intuitive writing & pantsing, creative process, magic/mystery of creating/art, writing, creating in the moment, Freya North

"Does your work have fingerprints?  Is it something only you could have written?  Does it have a style—is it about individual passion and situations—that makes me feel I am getting to know you, a unique individual?

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, writing, artist's voice, Russell Galen

"What gives a story high impact is that which is most personal and passionate in its author.  That includes your own fears.  They are your compass.  They're directing you toward what unsettles.  And also to what matters."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  creative process, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Donald Maass

"As long as I'm in that 'zone,' I'm happy enough whether I've written 700 words or, like one crazy day writing The Turning Point, 7,000."

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  books, novel writing, literary fiction, writing, creating in the moment, women's fiction, word count, Freya North

Follow Your Curiosity

"I'm inspired when I literally can't put a book down.  I'll leave the dishes in the sink.  I'll bore friends and family talking about people they don't know and situations they've never read.  In short, I'm pitching to everyone around me.  If a book connects with me to that extent, it will connect with others.  The biggest seller of books is still word of mouth, and the most successful books are those people can't stop talkinga about, agents included."

— Lucienne Diver

for Creatives  |  reading, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, reaching your audience, writer-reader relationship, agents, Lucienne Diver

"Don't talk to me in market speak.  Tell me about your characters and the crisis they are trapped in, and make it seem serious, big."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  characters, artist integrity, reaching your audience, agents, value the art, Russell Galen

"You can't borrow awe.  You can't plot it into existence.  You can't provoke it through pretty words.  It has to come from you.  Your fiction will be awesome to the extent that you cut loose from convention, go to places that belong to you alone and embrace your godlike inner storyteller." (artist)

— Donald Maass (art by Spaceweaver)

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, art, artists, writing, storytelling, Donald Maass, creative freedom

"Just becaue a novel is easy to read does not mean it was easy to write."

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  reading, creating isn't easy, novel writing, writing, Freya North

"What sets the trends is always something new, not something being done."

— Lucienne Diver

for Creatives  |  writing, creative freedom, Lucienne Diver

"Worry more about a gripping story and an accessible style than about length."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  writing, word count, Russell Galen

"What great writers do is practice the art of looking for the Undiscovered Countries inside every story—because every book ever written is just a torch being carried into an incredibly deep, incredibly dark cavern of the imagination, illuminating only a small portion of the potential ideas it contains.  What remains hidden in the shadows is a rich source of inspiration for your own work—if you know how to mine it."

— Jeff Somers

for Creatives  |  reading, creative process, novel writing, writing, inspiration/the muse, storytelling, ideas, Jeff Somers

"It depends on what you think of when you hear the term 'chick lit.'  If you think it denotes a young fluffy girl in designer heels and handbags looking for Mr. Right, I'd be horrified.  If you think of it as reflective, resonant, real stories that speak to women today, I'd cheer."

— Jane Green

for Creatives  |  reading, women's fiction, genre, Jane Green

"The most humbling thing for me is when a reader thanks me beause my stories have actually helped them make sense of events or emotions in their own lives."

— Freya North

for Creatives  |  writing, writer-reader relationship, storytelling, value the art, Freya North

"When other novelists unsettle us, we praise them.  Yet when our own writing unsettles us, we worry."

— Donald Maass

for Creatives  |  artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Donald Maass, creative freedom

"I don't think an author should try specifically to write a series (or a stand-alone) due to any idea of the market.  A concept either cries out to be written over the course of several books with a story arc big enough to support it—some threads that tie up satisfyingly in each book with others that demand more time and effort to resolve—or it doesn't.  Writing two books where one is called for or three where a duology would do only means there's a sagging middle somewhere."

— Lucienne Diver

for Creatives  |  novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, value the art, Lucienne Diver, series writing

"Today, thanks to certain pioneering authors, some great books, and some great movies and TV series, the wall between genre and mainstream fiction has become not a wall, but a river.  It can be forded or bridged."

— Russell Galen

for Creatives  |  books, artist integrity, TV series, film, novel writing, writing, genre, TV writing, creative freedom,