13 Quotes on Writing by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a British novelist, short story writer and comic book author. He's the author of The Sandman comic book series and novels American Gods, Stardust, Coraline and The Graveyard Book.

Neil Gaiman on Writing

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes...you're doing something.”

#10

Neil Gaiman

“The story in which somebody gets to learn better, somebody gets to change their mind, somebody gets to see the world differently—is a beautiful shape for a story.”

#57

Neil Gaiman

“Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They're journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.”

#58

Neil Gaiman

“Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of job: It's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.”

#170

Neil Gaiman

“Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.”

#182

Neil Gaiman

“Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

#187

Neil Gaiman

“Growing up is highly overrated. Just be an author.”

#218

Neil Gaiman

“Rule one, you have to write. If you don't write, nothing will happen.”

#220

Neil Gaiman

“…fiction gives us empathy: it puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gift of seeing the world through their eyes. Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.”

#239

Neil Gaiman

“I think one of the great things about fiction is that it takes the chaos of life and feeds it back to one in a form that is emotionally satisfying.”

#243

Neil Gaiman

“The story is an explosion. And you get to the end of it, and once it's done, then you get to walk around it and you get to look at the shrapnel and the damage it did. And you get to see who died. And you get to see how it worked.”

#261

Neil Gaiman

“A book is a dream that you hold in your hands.”

#317

Neil Gaiman

“You have to finish things — that's what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.”

#320

Neil Gaiman

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