Taking on challenging projects is the way that one grows and extends one's range as a writer, one's technical command, so I consider the time well-spent.
Reading is the most rewarding form of exile and the most necessary discipline for novelists who burn with the ambition to get better.
I like to believe we're always looking to evolve as writers.
One of the things you get to do as a writer is that you get to learn new stuff all the time, and I hope that I'm a better writer when I'm 70 than I was when I was 30. That's one of the great things about a literary career.
What one's goal should be is just to become a better writer and to tell different kinds of stories.
I feel like I'm getting better at being a writer.
One likes to think one grows as a writer as one ages, else all you get is an 'old' young writer. Beyond that is the changing landscape of the universe and the stories I choose to tell.
I like to think I grow as a writer from every new experience.
One changes, as a writer, fairly quickly; what you wrote six months or a year ago might not sound right anymore.
If I could chat with anyone, it would be Claire Messud, because I think she could tell me how to get better as a writer as I age.
After 'Where the Wild Things Are,' I guess I felt more confident as a writer.
In the best possible scenario, whenever you get notes from people, they're good notes, and they see things that you wouldn't have seen otherwise, and they make you a better writer.
You don't really learn how to write songs; you learn to develop as a writer, and you get to meet lots of musicians and figure out what kind of sound you want. You have the time to just develop and try different styles, and that's what I did.
With each book, you get better as a writer. There is no back door to the industry. Read in the genre you want to write, as the more you read, the better you will get as an author.
Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.
I like to think I've grown as a writer and taken some risks, but I still consider myself to be a literary writer.
It took me ten years and seven books to bag an agent - it took me that long to start writing good.
It's like two years straight out of your life doing a film. It's very enjoyable, especially working with the guys, but I kind of like the idea of traveling and growing, and developing as a writer and as a filmmaker.
