John Irving quotes - page 6

I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to have. (John Irving)
There's a lot of ignorance about how long it takes to write a novel. There's a lot of ignorance about how long a novel is in your head before you start to write it. View quote
John Irving
There's no reason you should write any novel quickly. View quote
John Irving
Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes. I'm reconstructing the story from the back to the front so that I know where the front is. View quote
John Irving
More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer is rewriting. I wouldn't say I have a talent that's special. It strikes me that I have an unusual kind of stamina. View quote
John Irving
I have pretty thick skin, and I think if you're going to be in this business, if you're going to be an actor or a writer, you better have a thick skin. View quote
John Irving
You think you have a memory; but it has you! View quote
John Irving
I don't begin a novel or a screenplay until I know the ending. And I don't mean only that I have to know what happens. I mean that I have to hear the actual sentences. I have to know what atmosphere the words convey. View quote
John Irving
People regard art too highly, and history not enough. View quote
John Irving
I believe in rules of behavior, and I'm quite interested in stories about the consequences of breaking those rules. View quote
John Irving
I've always preferred writing in longhand. I've always written first drafts in longhand. (John Irving)
And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence until all the important connections in the novel are known to me. As if the story has already taken place, and it's my responsibility to put it in the right order to tell it to you. View quote
John Irving
And I find - I'm 63, and my capacity to be by myself and just spend time by myself hasn't diminished any. That's the necessary part of being a writer, you better like being alone. View quote
John Irving
You don't want to be ungenerous toward people who give you prizes, but it is never the social or political message that interests me in a novel. I begin with an interest in a relationship, a situation, a character. View quote
John Irving