I'd rather write one good book than ten mediocre ones.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
There is good and mediocre writing within every genre.
Even if I only had 10 readers, I'd rather do the book for them than for a million readers online.
A fortunate author can write maybe twelve novels in his lifetime.
No one writes a great book every time out, or even a good book.
I feel I've got 10 books in me.
I've written 16 children's books and five unpublished novels. Some of the latter were breathtakingly bad.
If only one in 1,000 people that I talk to goes on to write a good book, that's one more good book that I've helped along... and maybe it will be a book I love myself five or 10 years down the line.
A ten- or twelve-page story seems too easy, which is a funny thing to say considering that writing a decent short story is devastatingly difficult. Yet it still seems easier than a novel. You can turn a short story on a single good line - ten pages of decent writing and one good moment.
I've had all six of my books reach the New York Times bestseller list, which is especially rewarding seeing as I flunked out of high school twice because I couldn't write. It just goes to show you that we learn from our mistakes.
As for critics, one mediocre writer is more valuable than ten good critics. They are like haughty, barren spinsters lodged in a maternity ward.