“Planning to write is not writing. Outlining... researching... talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing.”

“Some people write to make a living; others to share their insights or raise questions that will haunt their readers; others yet to understand their very souls. None of these will last. That distinction belongs to those who write only because if they did not write they would burst… These writers give expression to the divine — no matter what they write about.”

“Writing about the unholy is one way of writing about what is sacred.”

“I write to find out what I'm talking about.”

“…none can truly write his single day,
And none can write it for him upon earth.”

“The hardest thing about writing is writing.”

“Write only if you cannot live without writing. Write only what you alone can write.”

“What is writing? Writing is telepathy.”

“There's a difference between writing for a living and writing for
life. If you write for a living, you make enormous compromises….
If you write for life, you'll work hard; you'll do what's honest,
not what pays”

“F. Shaw: As prolific as you are, how long did it take you to research and write this book?
A. Axelrod: Well over a year. I do my research for one book while I write another—that way I get to read as well as write.”