John Irving Quotes
I've always preferred writing in longhand. I've always written first drafts in longhand.
Quotes to Explore
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I don't know how old I was when I started writing books. But, I was born in 1931, and I wrote my first book in 1961.
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I've had those people very interested in my writing. Since I think of myself as a composer, I feel really good. I've had lots of guys call me up. I've gotten two or three commissions to write things. I've written lots of movie scores.
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Sometimes things in life take a few years to digest, and they find their way into the work later on. Sometimes I'm writing about things from eight years ago-they just took a long time to distill and come out in the appropriate way.
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I like the performing. And interviews, even. And the stuff that's not sitting in a room by yourself with empty paper. But I never loved writing, to tell you the truth.
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I started submitting stories for publication when I was about 15, but it was many years before I sold anything. I don't make my living writing science fiction, so in that sense, I'm still not a pro.
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There are places where writing is acting and acting is writing. I'm not so interested in the divisions. I'm interested in the way things cross over.
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When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you write the book, then you find the justification for it.
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I can sit and analyze everything and beat myself up and say you don't quite sing as good as you used to, you're writing better songs maybe than you used to, but to me it's just the journey.
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Honest criticism, I suppose, has its place. But honest writing is infinitely more valuable.
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One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things.
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I love writing. Given a choice, after directing for all these years, and if given an army of talented directors, I would not direct at all.
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Writing is my way of expressing - and thereby eliminating - all the various ways we can be wrong-headed.
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People say, 'How does having kids change your writing? Do you see the world through their eyes?' No - you just become a faster songwriter... In the old days, you'd be like, 'Oh I'm gonna work on this song for a few days.'
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I can ask for a £25,000 advance, but then you spend a year writing the book, and £25,000 is a loan against sales, and you can easily spend five years earning out. So that's £25,000 for six years.
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When you're writing, you are robbed of your delivery.
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There's a rule of writing: if everything is funny, nothing is funny; if everything is sad, nothing is sad. You want that contrast.
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I'm quite adept at writing two or sometimes even three stories at once. So if I get stuck on one story, I switch the next and let my subconscious work on unraveling any plot problems from another story.
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My favorite thing in life is writing about life, specifically the parts of life concerning love. Because, as far as I'm concerned, love is absolutely everything.
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I never read prefaces, and it is not much good writing things just for people to skip. I wonder other authors have never thought of this.
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I'm writing the book to a children's musical. I got a note from the producers saying, "Can't you make it campier?" So now, I'm trying to determine the camp sensibility of the average eight year old.
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The child who hates the parent becomes rigid – unable to let in love. He is so filled with shame that he feels that he cannot take in any further shame. He protects himself by making sure he is always “right.” Such a person often becomes controlling, shaming, and/or abusive.
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Picture books have terrible PR amongst the children of this country. Ask any librarian: after a certain age, children just aren't interested in the picture book section anymore. It's filled with moms, strollers, and unbalanced toddlers.
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We save limited resources in terms of who we are physically screening. The approach will allow us to pay more attention to those potential terrorists.
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I've always preferred writing in longhand. I've always written first drafts in longhand.
