Patrick deWitt Quotes
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I'm never doing anything by rote. I'm only on thin ice, and I think that that's a good place to be. I feel like when you push yourself like that, the rewards can be pretty great.
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Love is dangerous; it's not something to be trifled with. As good as it feels on the way in, it feels that much worse on the way out.
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The hardest thing in the world for a writer is to amass a readership. So many good books come out, and so many good books disappear.
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It's healthy to have interests besides books.
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If I were to continue to work in an established mode, it stands to reason the work would be limited by this - that it would never surpass the prior work in quality.
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As a reader I want to be present and entertained. I don't want to be taught lessons, and I don't want to be spoken down to. I want to be treated as a peer and to be made to feel welcome.
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I was halfway through a rough draft of 'The Sisters Brothers' when it came time to start the 'Terri' adaptation.
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The initial spark, your affection for the characters, all those things can disappear. It's a perilous thing.
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The nice thing about writing at home is that it's almost as though I'm doing it already. I get out of bed thinking of my work, and I don't have to go anywhere to do it.
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Often the starting point for characters, for me, is finding a little, most minor detail, and I'll go from there.
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'The Sisters Brothers' has endeared so many prize juries because the Western format has more of a broad appeal and is familiar to readers.
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When you meet someone you love, whether or not they love you back, something occurs in you that makes you want to improve yourself.
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I have a paranoia that 'Ablutions' is the best thing I'll ever do.
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I am a bit prudish, I think. It's hard for me to write about sex, and I don't really care to read about it, either.
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I've got a publicist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who's been working little miracles for me, but it's true the budgets aren't what they once were in terms of advertisement and book tours.
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When your protagonist bores you, you're in trouble.
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I understand the desire to write and read about the death of publishing. It's a perversely and universally appealing topic.
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The reason I like Portland is the idea of going to a supermarket and knowing there's no way to be recognized. L.A. is so social.
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I've always felt so fortunate to have writing to turn to every day. I'm obsessed with it.
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The question of likability is a bit of a puzzler for me. You know, I don't write people with likability in mind. It's more whether or not I find them compelling.
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I don't necessarily want to make people stomp and clap. I simply want to engage people.
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I don't consider Los Angeles home anymore; ultimately, it was pretty negative, but I did spend my formative years in the Valley and all around L.A. proper. Through my teenage years and into my young adulthood, up until the age of 30, I spent a good amount of time there.
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I carry a small spiral notebook with me at all times and have been doing this for many years. There's a shoe box in my closet filled with these notebooks, each riddled with notes and impressions, ideas, schemes, and soup recipes.
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A lot of authors, judging by their list, will put anything out that they finish... That's the worst model I've heard of in my life. It's just idiotic. Why wouldn't you just wait for the good ones?