“I am happiest writing in small rooms. They make me feel comfortable and secure. And it took me years to figure out that I need to write in a corner. Like a small animal burrowing into its hole, I shift furniture around, and back myself into a cozy corner, with my back to the wall … and then I can write.” —Danielle Steel

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” ― Dorothy Parker

“Work with all your intelligence and love. Work freely and rollickingly….Mentally (at least three or four times a day) thumb your nose at all know-it-alls, jeerers, critics, doubters.” – Brenda Ueland

“Writing is like breathing. It’s possible to learn to do it well, but the point is to do it no matter what.” – Julia Cameron

“Don’t quit. It’s very easy to quit during the first ten years.” – Andre Dubus

“It’s the whole getting started thing for me. I forget how to write a book. The first ten thousand words are like digging fossils from rocks.” – J. T. Ellison

“You get what you dare, baby, and if you want big, you dare big.” – Leonard Bishop, Dare to Be a Great Writer

“The challenge is not to write truth, but to write seductive believability.” – Stephen J. Cannell