A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or read more

A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.

Neither man nor God is going to tell me what to write.

Neither man nor God is going to tell me what to write.

My occupation is solely that of a painter.
No one can argue with pictures
(re descriptions in Uncle Tom's Cabin).

My occupation is solely that of a painter.
No one can argue with pictures
(re descriptions in Uncle Tom's Cabin).

Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.

Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.

You become a better writer by writing. You become a better travel writer by writing about travel.

You become a better writer by writing. You become a better travel writer by writing about travel.

You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.

You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.

As far as I'm concerned, the entire reason for becoming a writer is not having to get up in the read more

As far as I'm concerned, the entire reason for becoming a writer is not having to get up in the morning.

I wanted to be a writer from my early teenage years, but I never told anyone. Writers, in my opinion, read more

I wanted to be a writer from my early teenage years, but I never told anyone. Writers, in my opinion, were god-like creatures, and to say I was striving to be a writer would be incredibly arrogant.