Aimee Bender
“Rules. I’m a big believer in structure, and the idea that creativity loosens up when constrained a bit.
Brando Skyhorse
“Never start writing in a bad mood—makes it too easy to quit before you get going.
Patricia Engel
“I’ve been reading the journals of Albert Camus since I was thirteen years old and his words have become my most faithful and intimate companions.
Joshua Ferris
“I take inspiration from the subtle daily forecasting of death. This should be impetus for anyone to get off his ass.
Jean Valentine
“Sometimes typos can be helpful. Looking at a poem in a language you can’t read, and working from the sounds.
Glenn Taylor
“As Jerome Washington wrote, 'The blues is our antidote.’ So I listen. Blues doctors like Neal Pattman inspire something in a writer’s blood. Anyone who can play harmonica like he can, with one arm no less, will get me going.
Travis Nichols
“To get my mind ready for writing, I try to sit quietly and stare at nothing for ten minutes.
Sonia Sanchez
“José Martí wrote, ‘In the world there must be certain degrees of honor just as there must be certain degrees of light.
Brad Watson
“I’ve figured out things that were stonewalling me during cross-country drives, and usually when I’m trying to pull an all-nighter to avoid traffic and get there in less time—maybe it’s all the caffeine and the mesmerizing white lines in the middle of the road.
Porochista Khakpour
“Nothing inspires me like the imagination in a vacuum. I always pick the most closet-like, even coffin-like, space in the house for my writing room. No windows, no photos, no ‘stuff.’ I never play any music, I don’t have an inspiration board, I disable the internet, and the cell is always off.