Quote

There is no secret to success except hard work and getting something indefinable which we call 'the breaks.' In order for a writer to succeed, I suggest three things - read and write - and wait.

I didn't know it was possible to be successful as a writer, so I wasn't afraid to fail.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of beginning writers who think you can just write your first draft and hand it in.

Every published writer suffers through that first draft because most of the time, that's a disappointment.

It's never really easy to be successful as a writer when you're trying to write literary fiction. You've already limited your readership limited by that choice.

Many writers are afraid of writing something bad, so they don't try or give up when their efforts don't lead to a masterpiece right away. If you work at it, you will improve.

I assume as a writer that most of the time I'm going to fall down and fail.

Maybe other writers have perfect first drafts, but I am not one of them. I always try to get the book as tight as I can, but you reach a point as the author where you have lost all perspective.

Many first-time novelists end up rewriting their first two or three chapters, trying to get them 'just right.' But the point of the first draft is not to get it right; it's to get it written - so that you'll have something to work with.

Failure has been my best friend as a writer. It tests you, to see if you have what it takes to see it through.