WALTER JON WILLIAMS

I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings to do other real human beings.

I've learned that I get blocked when my subconscious mind is telling me that I've taken the work in a wrong direction, and that once I start listening to what my subconscious is trying to tell me, I can work out the problem and get moving again.

How long it takes to write a book depends on its length.

Now I have to motivate myself much more than I had previously.

If you can find collaborators whose strengths compliment your own, the result can be more than the sum of its authors.

I found college useful for a lot of other reasons. It exposed me to a great many influences I wouldn't otherwise have encountered, and gave me a lot of time with some very intelligent people whose thoughts are still with me.

Genre labels are useful only insofar as they help you find an audience.

It's a tough job to tell a story when the audience already knows the ending, and the ending is bleak.

Even if you only want to write science fiction, you should also read mysteries, poetry, mainstream literature, history, biography, philosophy, and science.

The Rift, which was well over a thousand pages of manuscript, took two years.

That's why editors and publishers will never be obsolete: a reader wants someone with taste and authority to point them in the direction of the good stuff, and to keep the awful stuff away from their door.

The Internet offers an interesting combination of advertising and community by participating in the community you can become an advertisement for yourself.

Being a writer was never a choice, it was an irresistible compulsion.

Science fiction readers probably have the gene for novelty, and seem to enjoy a cascade of invention as much as a writer enjoys providing one.

An SF author who reads only SF will have little new to contribute, but someone with a broader experience will bring more to the table.

I was pretty much grown-up by the time I attended school in Britain - or as grown-up as I'll ever get.

Working within the limitations of the shared world generally made the writing easier, because I didn't have to invent any of the characters or background, which is usually the hardest part.

I now have to find a reason to write, every single day.

I want a platform that, like a book or a magazine, I can carry into the bath or leave at the beach.

I wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.

I went to college, though I didn't take many writing courses.

I'm in favor of any technology that makes my work available to the reading public at a reasonable price.

I've experienced writer's block, but never for more than a few days.

The big battle at the end of DW isn't drawn from history, but it's influenced by history, certainly.

Try to meet as many authors, agents, and editors as you can.