Emily Temple of Flavorwire just put together a compilation of 12 Great Videos of Famous Authors Giving Advice to Aspring Writers. Sometimes it's good to get advice from someone who is currently on the road and can tell you what the last few miles look like. But it's good to weigh that advice also with the stories and ideas of the people who have already gotten to the rest house.
Which is your favorite author, and which do you think gives the best advice?
“Whatever it is — writing, painting, music — whatever creative endeavor, lots of people want to do it. The odds are against you. But, luckily, very few of them are sane.”
John Hodgman
“You have to sit down and you have to write the book of your dreams.”
Anne Rice
“Do what you love and love what you do.”
Ray Bradbury
“The reading has to be done. If you don’t read, as a novelist, you’re liable to be hugely influenced by the writers you haven’t read.”
Ian McEwan
“It’s very important to not censor yourself.”
Sandra Cisneros
“Do it again. Or next time, next time you write a story, try and make it a little bit better.”
Alan Moore
“Writing is like a sport, it’s like athletics. If you don’t practice, you don’t get any better.”
Rick Riordan
“Go get your heart broken.”
Neil Gaiman
“If you want to write, it must be the thing not that you want to do, or would like to do. It must be the thing you feel you have to do. It must be that without which you could not live. If you’ve got that, then it’ll be all right.”
Christopher Hitchens
“Don’t worry about what your mother thinks of your language.”
Elmore Leonard
“What cliché is, is heard writing, heard thinking, heard feeling. And the writer, you’ve got to look for weight of voice and freshness, and make it your own.”
Martin Amis
“Learn when to shut up.”
Warren Ellis
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