11th July 2016 | for Creatives | creative process, novel writing, writing, Anne Rice, the creative life |
"I don't think there's any rule. I don't write sometimes for months. Of course, I write emails every day, I write in my diary every day. I may not touch the manuscript at all, or anything pertaining to it. ... Whether [or not] I hit the keyboard, I'm writing in my head. I'm working on my books all the time. I write best in short, intense periods. A period, say, of three or four months—very intense work. And then I draw back and I read, and I do other things. Again, I don't think there's any rule to any of this. It's the greatest profession because you do it all in your own way."
"Newsflash: nobody has the time to write a novel except established novelists. And even then you'd be surprised how easily life intrudes."
"I found myself blessing the secret mind... observed when I thought I was sitting this one out. We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."
"You've got to go, 'No, I can't come into work on the weekends—[that's] when I work on my novel.' ... People deserve those dreams, and they have to fight for them. You don't want to be at the end of your life and go, 'I met all the obligations people had for me.'"
"No matter where you are in your career, whether you're published, unpublished or just starting out, walk through the world as a writer. That's who you are, and that's what you want to be, and don't take any guff off anybody."
"Each novel teaches me how to write it, and before I can truly understand what I'm writing, I need to imagine the one person to whom I'm whispering the story urgently."
Don't miss a single, riveting word! Be the first to hear of new releases, special promotions, and other news and nifty things...