303 books
—
361 voters
to-read
(1660)
currently-reading (1)
read (410)
not-fiction (315)
horror (128)
help-me-write-please (96)
currently-reading (1)
read (410)
not-fiction (315)
horror (128)
help-me-write-please (96)
short-story-syndrome
(93)
honours-reading-list (84)
a-talkie-sir (61)
critically-speaking (57)
home-less (45)
siffy (43)
honours-reading-list (84)
a-talkie-sir (61)
critically-speaking (57)
home-less (45)
siffy (43)
“From the moment I start a new novel, life’s just one endless torture. The first few chapters may go fairly well and I may feel there’s still a chance to prove my worth, but that feeling soon disappears and every day I feel less and less satisfied. I begin to say the book’s no good, far inferior to my earlier ones, until I’ve wrung torture out of every page, every sentence, every word, and the very commas begin to look excruciatingly ugly. Then, when it’s finished, what a relief! Not the blissful delight of the gentleman who goes into ecstasies over his own production, but the resentful relief of a porter dropping a burden that’s nearly broken his back . . . Then it starts all over again, and it’ll go on starting all over again till it grinds the life out of me, and I shall end my days furious with myself for lacking talent, for not leaving behind a more finished work, a bigger pile of books, and lie on my death-bed filled with awful doubts about the task I’ve done, wondering whether it was as it ought to have been, whether I ought not to have done this or that, expressing my last dying breath the wish that I might do it all over again!”
― The Masterpiece
― The Masterpiece
“If you spend enough time reading or writing, you find a voice, but you also find certain tastes. You find certain writers who when they write, it makes your own brain voice like a tuning fork, and you just resonate with them. And when that happens, reading those writers—not all of whom are modern . . . I mean, if you are willing to make allowances for the way English has changed, you can go way, way back with this— becomes a source of unbelievable joy. It’s like eating candy for the soul. So probably the smart thing to say is that lucky people develop a relationship with a certain kind of art that becomes spiritual, almost religious, and doesn’t mean, you know, church stuff, but it means you’re just never the same.”
― Quack This Way
― Quack This Way
“I started to wonder, and felt relieved that there might be truth to the idea of intellectuals all being frauds. I knew that I certainly was.”
― What Purpose Did I Serve in Your Life
― What Purpose Did I Serve in Your Life
“There is only one thing that you write for yourself, and that is a shopping list.”
― On Literature
― On Literature
Dark Fiction
— 621 members
— last activity Oct 31, 2025 07:41PM
Because we think that a great piece of dark fiction will blow your mind, we are a group for people who enjoy all forms of dark fiction. Lots of discus ...more
Writerpedia
— 1265 members
— last activity Jul 28, 2022 08:20AM
This is a place to share knowledge. If you are writing and need to know something maybe someone here can give you an answer.
Ray Bradbury Appreciation Group
— 27 members
— last activity Feb 04, 2014 12:14AM
With more stories than we can count, his works span across many genres, and with each page, he sparks a new love for all things imaginable. Share your ...more
Tom’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Tom’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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