We do not choose our subjects. They choose us. — Gustave Falubert
The first person you should think of pleasing, in writing a book, is yourself. — Patricia Highsmith
The form chooses you, not the other way round. An idea comes and is already embodied in a form. — Michael Frayn
A solved mystery is ultimately reassuring to readers, asserting the triumph of reason over instinct, or order over anarchy. — David Lodge
The most important thing in a work of art is that it should have a kind of focus, that is, there should be some place where all the rays meet or from which they issue. — Leo Tolstoy
Drama is like real life with the dull bits cut out. — Alfred Hitchcock
If you really want to achieve greatness, you have to keep challenging yourself. You have to keep going back into yourself. — James Ellroy
Write as often as possible, not with the idea at once of getting into print, but as if you were learning an instrument. — J. B. Priestley