Katie Lee Quotes

Usually after finishing a novel, I have a head full of bad ideas for the next one.

I'm always writing. There is always a story brewing in my head.

I have two ideas for novels at the moment, neither of them all that conventional, but I'm not ready to choose between them yet, let alone settle down to the process of writing.

I have always wanted to write a novel, and I tried many times but could never find the right story. One day, I was walking on the beach, and the idea for 'Groundswell' hit me. I went into the house and started writing and never stopped.

I would like to one day write a nice big novel and enjoy writing it and people enjoy reading it but I cannae be bothered or I don't have any ideas that would fill up a big book like that.

And once I know what the first page is, then the rest will come.

I started writing novels by not thinking about actually writing a whole novel - that felt altogether too daunting. I thought out a rough idea, then wrote chapter by chapter, and then by the time I'd hit 40,000 words, it was a challenge just to see if I could get to the end.

I really don't know what I am going to do in terms of what a book is going to be about until I actually start writing it!

From the beginning, when I first got an idea for a story and wondered if I could write it, it has always been the story that has driven me.

If one day a TV series comes into my head, and that is what I want to write, I'll write it. It just depends what story is in my brain at the time.

Deciding to write a novel about something - as opposed to finding you are writing a novel around something - sounds to me like a good evocation of writer's block.

I had wanted to write Ghost Country for a long time, but it wouldn't work.

Rarely does a complete idea come to me. I basically start with just a small scene or a snatch of dialogue and force myself to write and to keep writing. Sometimes it becomes a book.

In a way, I started 'Goon Squad' not even realizing I was writing a book. I thought I was just writing a few stories to stall before starting this other book that I wanted to write - or thought I wanted to write: I still haven't written it.

When I started working on 'Stay With Me,' I thought it would take two years to complete the novel.

If somebody says that they want to write a book but do not know what to write about, they will never write a book.

I know some writers that have a million novel ideas, but I don't.

Once I have a story idea I like it doesn't even matter to me what genre it is, I'm just so happy to have one.

It is very enjoyable, writing a story. You get this idea. It takes hold of you. And then you spend day and night thinking about how to do it. And then you do it. And much later, you think, 'Oh, yes. That's an interesting question.'

My novels come from within me; they are things I feel I want to do.

As far as personal philosophies go, I think you should know your ending. I know that's radically different from a lot of other writers who just organically like to find the story. Other than that, I try different things and mess around. I'm still just playing a good bit.

I don't stare at a sheet of paper and try to think of a good word to use. I try to see where the story should go.

It's kind of a mysterious process, but something will catch my attention, and I'll make a note about it. I may even write a few pages about it, and then I'll put it aside, but I'll sort of keep it in mind. Then as time goes on, other things will gather to it as if it's a magnet, almost, and eventually, there's enough to make the story.

For me, the hardest thing in the world is how to start a book.

A novel usually takes me two years. A year to research and plan and dream. Then a year to write.