Brad Meltzer
"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
"Jumping into different genres is what charges me up to do each one."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | writing, genre, Brad Meltzer, creative freedom
"If you want to find your answer as a writer, follow whatever you're passionate about."
— Brad Meltzer
"The hardest part is, you can't start a book unless that character is going to change in some way. Character is the best plot."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | characters, novel writing, writing, Brad Meltzer
"You go for a world that interests you, and then you find something else that makes you go, Oh, that's interesting."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | creative process, create for YOURSELF, writing, Brad Meltzer
"Even my publisher will say they just want more thrillers. That's what feeds my family. But I feel like if I did that, I wouldn't be being true to myself."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, thriller, writing, reaching your audience, publishing, Brad Meltzer
"Whatever it is you do, my advice is simple: Don't let anyone tell you no."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | artist integrity, writing, KEEP CREATING, Brad Meltzer, creative freedom
"I didn't follow my gut. After that, I said, I'm never doing that again. And the book after that, when I went back to doing what I wanted to do, wound up being, at that point in time, the bestselling book we ever did."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, novel writing, the successful artist, writing, Brad Meltzer
"The X factor on every page is, does the writer love what they're writing about? Anything you love that you've read in your life, from Page 1, you feel the writer's passion. That's the thing that you can't put your finger on."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | reading, create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, writing, Brad Meltzer
"If you made the bestseller list, who cares? That doesn't make you a better person. It means nothing. It means people buy your books. The question is, what do you do beyond your God-given gift?"
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | novel writing, the successful artist, writing, Brad Meltzer, value the art
"I think the better use of research is talking to people where they develop a trust and tell you their greatest story. If you go in there and you know what you want to write and you just want to write it, then why bother them? But you're there and taking their time because they have something amazing to share, and as a writer, all you're doing is trying to look through someone else's eyes."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | artist integrity, writing, storytelling, Brad Meltzer
"When I did comic books for the first time, people told me, 'You're going to wreck your career. You're a novelist, why are you lowering yourself?' And I thought, What are you talking about? There's no pyramid with literary fiction at the top and everything else at the bottom. It's a flat line. It's just a matter of how you want to tell your story. And I just like being able to walk across that line." (artist)
— Brad Meltzer (photo by Ruth Orkin)
for Creatives | photography, artist integrity, artists, novel writing, writing, storytelling, Brad Meltzer, value the art, Ruth Orkin, comics
"The moment you think you're done, and the moment you think you've made it, you're finished. The best motivator is to remember what it's like to have nothing at all - to keep yourself hungry."
— Brad Meltzer
for Creatives | creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, Brad Meltzer