As A Rule Of Thumb I Say,

Fiction Does Not Spring Into The World Fully Grown, Like Athena. It Is The Process Of Writing And Rewriting That Makes A Fiction Original, If Not Profound.

A Common And Usually Unfortunate Answer Is “write About What You Know.” Nothing Can Be More Limiting To The Imagination, Nothing Is Quicker To Turn On The Psyche's Censoring Devices And Distortion Systems, Than Trying To Write Truthfully.

One Must Be Just A Little Crazy To Write A Great Novel. One Must Be Capable Of Allowing The Darkest, Most Ancient And Shrewd Parts Of One’s Being To Take Over The Work From Time To Time.

One Of The Many Interesting Challenges Nature Presents Us Is Its Apparent Disinterest In Maintaining The Order Humans Crave.

People Will Tell You That Writing Is Too Difficult, That It's Impossible To Get Your Work Published, That You Might As Well Hang Yourself. Meanwhile, They'll Keep Writing And You'll Have Hanged Yourself.