- Job
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- Nov 07, 2020
Book Quotes
Why books work the way they do.
This page highlights what books can do that film can't, including slower pacing and quiet stretches, alongside a reminder that some things simply translate poorly to screen. For a companion collection, see Books.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Go
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- Nov 07, 2020
I wrote the first book, and I thought people would say: 'Separate and unequal schools in the City of Boston? I didn't know that. Let's go out and fix it.'
- Best
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- Nov 07, 2020
Write the best book you can, the one that demands to be written, no matter what genre it is. Even a trend the trades tell you has gone stale can be revitalized by a superb piece of writing. It'll never be revitalized by someone jumping on a trend bandwagon.
- Research
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- Nov 07, 2020
Time spent researching varies from book to book. Some novels require months, even years of research, others very little. I try to do most of my research before I begin but inevitably questions emerge during the writing.
- Memory
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- Nov 07, 2020
When I read a book I liked, I would get a pen and one of my father's legal pads and rewrite it from memory as if I had thought of it myself. It was a clear sign that I wanted to be involved in writing, even if it was just pretend at that point.
- Better
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- Nov 07, 2020
It's just a matter of writing the kind of book I enjoy reading. Something better be happening at the beginning, and then on every page after, or I get irritated.
- Name
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- Nov 07, 2020
I was unwise enough to actually mention this in public a few times, and in fact to point out that there were two versions of the book now. One of them had somebody else's name on the cover, one had my name on the cover.
- Approximately
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- Nov 07, 2020