Recent content by Paul Whybrow

Asking myself, 'Is this any good?' is pointless. It just slows down my writing, and I can't tell anyway. It's always the paragraphs I loved most, the ones I tenderly polished and re-read with pride, that my editor will suggest cutting. Liane Moriarty

“Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most never use it.” Unknown

“I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.” Marissa Mayer

If you ever want your soul to dance in the clouds, you will at some point have to juggle lightning and taste the thunder. Christopher Poindexter

“Why this hunger to write — I always ask myself — if not the longing to discover what I believe? The pen divines my thoughts.” David Conover

“But the heart has its own memory and I have forgotten nothing.” Albert Camus

I’ve never met a strong person with an easy past. Herodes Atticus

Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful. John Wooden

“I don’t need you to remind me of my age. I have a bladder to do that for me.” Stephen Fry

The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things. Thomas Hardy

Whilst I’m writing, I’m far away. When I come back, I’m far gone. Pablo Neruda

Dear Artists, remember that the opposite of depression is not joy. It’s expression. So create, create, create. As it’s the soul’s medicine. Andy Warhol

You would go mad if you began to speculate about the impact your novel might have while you were still writing it. Jonathan Coe

Writing is like carrying a foetus. Edna O'Brien

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C. S. Lewis