Author

You believe in God or statistics or the way your narrative differs from other people.

I'm astounded by people who can listen to music when they write. I can only assume that they have multi-track brains, while mine is decidedly single.

From Elizabeth McCracken

It's an amazing thing to watch a lizard fold a moth into its mouth, like a sword swallower who specialises in umbrellas.

From Elizabeth McCracken

Tweeting about objects means I don't need to bid on them, which is a blessing. Buying something is a way of saying, 'Look at this!' So is tweeting. So, I guess, is writing fiction.

From Elizabeth McCracken

There's a good chance that in 40 years, after the floods, people zipping by on scavenged jetpacks with their scavenged baseball caps on backwards, I will be in my rocking chair saying bitterly, 'I remember when 'all right' was two words.'

From Elizabeth McCracken

I own an e-reader, but I use it almost exclusively to read things that aren't books - student theses, unbound galleys.

From Elizabeth McCracken

At my first library job, I worked with a woman named Sheila Brownstein, who was The Reader's Advisor. She was a short, bosomy Englishwoman who accosted people at the shelves and asked if they wanted advice on what to read, and if the answer was yes, she asked what writers they already loved and then suggested somebody new.

From Elizabeth McCracken

I like seeing my physical progress through a volume, particularly if it's a big book.

From Elizabeth McCracken

I used to be a writer with superstitions worthy of a professional baseball player: I needed a certain desk chair and a certain armchair and a certain desk arrangement, and I could only get really useful work done between 8 P.M. and 3 A.M. Then I started to move, and I couldn't bring my chairs with me.

From Elizabeth McCracken

Revising stuff lately, I was shocked to see how often my characters scratched their ankles, felt their feet, and touched their own ears.

From Elizabeth McCracken

Elizabeth McCracken

Notable Quotes

Authors with Similar Views

Meghan O'Rourke

Saoirse Ronan

Tim O'Brien

Lynn Abbey

Eric Brown

Authors with Opposing Views

Adam Osborne

Ali Smith

Alvar Aalto

Amy Brenneman

Amy Grant