“You have to wait for your mind to catch up with whatever it is it’s working on; then you can write a novel.”

— James M. Cain

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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James M. Cain 8

Novelist, short story writer, journalist 1892–1977

Thomas Harris Red Dragon

Source: Red Dragon

“What is it like when you lose someone you love?" Jane asked.
"You die, too. And you wait around for your body to catch up.”

John Scalzi Old Man's War

Source: Old Man's War

“What on earth can you do on this earth but catch at whatever comes near you, with both your fingers, until your fingers are broken?”

Tennessee Williams Orpheus Descending

Source: Orpheus Descending

“Writing a novel is not very difficult: you simply write ten pages a day for a month and then you have a novel.”

Henri Peyre (1901–1988) American linguist

Henri Peyre, at Yale, as quoted in Graham, Garrett, The Writer's Voice: Conversations with Contemporary Writers (1973), p. 272

“You must understand that when you are writing a novel you are not making anything up. It's all there and you just have to find it.”

Thomas Harris Red Dragon

Source: Red Dragon

“Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”

Napoleon Hill book Think and Grow Rich

Variant: Do not wait: the time will never be 'just right'. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.
Source: Think and Grow Rich (1938), p. 127
Context: Do not wait; the time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.