Whit Stillman Quotes

I'm a writer who likes to be influenced.

Other writers definitely influence my writing. What encourages me and inspires me is when I read a good book. It makes me want to be a better writer.

I discovered that writing was very nice indeed when I was very young, and I never changed. I don't think my style has changed very much at all - though I hope what I say is a bit more interesting. It's about getting to know a character and loving them, I think.

Writing a novel - unlike operating a piece of heavy machinery, say, or cooking a chicken - is not a skill that can be taught. There is no standard way of doing it, just as there is no means of telling, while you're doing it, whether you're doing it well or badly. And merely because you've done it well once doesn't mean you can do it well again.

I knew I was a writer; I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't know what to write.

Somebody said writing is easy, you just sit down at your typewriter and open a vein. It depends on the book. Some, I have to do quite a lot of research, which I like. Others are much closer to me.

Now I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am.

I'm inspired by playwrights, novelists, poets: The value of language has been a lifelong passion of mine. I enjoy it. I'm good at it.

I enjoy talking to groups who are interested in the writing process or the industry. I never teach - because truthfully, I don't know how it all works; it just does. Sort of magic-like. But I love to share my experiences and perspectives.

Usually I decide on what it is I'm writing next by the books I'm reading.

Like many authors, I caught the writing bug during my teenage years. I don't remember the exact day or year, but I remember that reading S.E. Hinton's 'The Outsiders' sparked my interest in writing.

I write what's given me to write.

I never thought I was very good at developing material. I grew up at the BBC where they sent you scripts.

Writers are people who put pen to paper every day.

Well, I think everything I've ever read contributes to the background from which I write.

Everything that you read is an influence on everything you write, and you want to draw as many elements into your work as you can.

I'm a bore. I save all my energy for my characters.

I've been writing for a long time.

I loved the writing process. I loved it.

Hopefully, reading and being around great literature inspires me to write songs, but I'm not sure about that.

I knew I would read all kinds of books and try to get at what it is that makes good writers good. But I made no promises that I would write books a lot of people would like to read.

Everything can be grist for the muse. Sometimes, writers draw on personal experiences. 'Ghoul' was just that.

I enjoy it too much - even if I knew I'd never get a book published, I would still write. I enjoy the experience of getting thoughts and ideas and plots and characters organised into this narrative framework.

When I started to write, I realised that you need a bit of both: the overall context as well as the individual's experience.

I feel like writing a book there's always a version in your head that's an amazing version, but then you write the version that you can write.