“Bad writers have influences. Good writers steal.”

— S.M. Stirling

Dragon Page Cover to Cover interview, Episode 372A (8 September 2009)

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S.M. Stirling 7

Canadian-American author, primarily of speculative fiction 1953

Darby Conley (1970) American cartoonist

Strip from November 18, 2006
Bucky Katt

“Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it. A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite.”

Edward Albee (1928–2016) American playwright

Saturday Review (4 May 1966)

“There is no such thing as a good writer and a bad liar.”

Amy Bloom (1953) Fiction writer, screenwriter, social worker, psychotherapist

Source: A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You

“I know these writers, they say “borrow” when they mean “steal.””

Nick Drake (poet) (1961) British writer

ibid
The Rahotep series, Book 2: Tutankhamun
Context: Be careful, Rahotep, I know these writers, they say “borrow” when they mean “steal.” You will soon read your words coming back to you on some privately circulated scroll of new verse.

“There is much for a young writer to learn from our poorest writers. It is very destructive to burn bad books, almost more destructive than to burn good ones.”

William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934), A Cold Day

“I think of myself as a bad writer with big ideas, but I'd rather be that than a big writer with bad ideas.”

Michael Moorcock (1939) English writer, editor, critic

Source: Elric: The Stealer of Souls

“The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer's radar and all great writers have had it.”

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American author and journalist

Paris Review interview (1958)

“If you need drugs to be a good writer, you're not a good writer.”

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter

The Rod Serling bio page on the Internet Movie DataBase.
Other

“young or old, good or bad, I don't think anything dies as slow and as hard as a writer.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: The Last Night of the Earth Poems

“I myself, as a person, have been influenced by many writers and many things, and my writing has felt the impact of the writing of many writers, some relatively unknown and unimportant, some downright bad. But probably the greatest influence of them all when an influence is most effective — when the man being influenced is nowhere near being solid in his own right — has been the influence of the great tall man with the white beard, the lively eyes, the swift wit and the impish chuckle.”

William Saroyan (1908–1981) American writer

Hello Out There (1941)

“Bad writers have influences. Good writers steal.”

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S.M. Stirling 7

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