The Write Quotes: Learning to Write

In Book 2, authors share their honest reflections on Learning to Write. 

These quotes reveal that there are many paths to learning how to write. 

Authors quoted include David Baldacci, Therese Anne Fowler, Steve Berry, Lisa Jewell, John Hart, Sophie Cousens, Ron Rash, C.J. Box, Craig Johnson, Wylie Cash, Kristy Harvey, Brad Taylor, Charlie Lovett, Judy Goldman, Chris Fabry, Amber Smith, Tracy Clark, John Gilstrap, Kimmery Martin, A.J. Hartley, Clyde Edgerton, Jill McCorkle, Jason Mott, Mark de Castrique, Cathy Pickens, David Joy, Gavin Edwards, and many more.

Author Bud Schill says that “if you were to put an infinite number of monkeys in front of an infinite number of typewriters, for an infinite period of time, eventually they would write a Shakespearean sonnet.”

New York Times bestselling novelist C.J. Box didn’t bang around like a bunch of monkeys to obtain his success, but admits he was self-taught: “I deconstructed the books I really liked on my own to figure out how that author got me into it, what the pace was, what the arc was, the point of view.” 

New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash says, “We're not making McDonald's hamburgers. There’s just no clear-cut way to do it.” And award-winning author Renea Winchester quips, “The best thing that an author can have is a writing friend who’s immensely more successful than they are,” a point that New York Timesbestselling novelist Craig Johnson echoes when he says “I learned more in four hours talking with Tony Hillerman than I may have gotten in an entire year master's degree in writing.”