Walter Jon Williams Quotes

Science fiction readers probably have the gene for novelty, and seem to enjoy a cascade of invention as much as a writer enjoys providing one.

The Rift, which was well over a thousand pages of manuscript, took two years.

I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings to do other real human beings.

I want a platform that, like a book or a magazine, I can carry into the bath or leave at the beach.

The Internet offers an interesting combination of advertising and community - by participating in the community you can become an advertisement for yourself.

It's a tough job to tell a story when the audience already knows the ending, and the ending is bleak.

I was pretty much grown-up by the time I attended school in Britain - or as grown-up as I'll ever get.

I can't speak for the other authors, but what I hoped to achieve was to illuminate certain corners of the Lucas universe that hadn't yet been explored.

Everything that you read is an influence on everything you write, and you want to draw as many elements into your work as you can.

Try to meet as many authors, agents, and editors as you can.

Even if you only want to write science fiction, you should also read mysteries, poetry, mainstream literature, history, biography, philosophy, and science.

If you can find collaborators whose strengths compliment your own, the result can be more than the sum of its authors.

Genre labels are useful only insofar as they help you find an audience.

Being a writer was never a choice, it was an irresistible compulsion.

I've experienced writer's block, but never for more than a few days.

I'm in favor of any technology that makes my work available to the reading public at a reasonable price.

How long it takes to write a book depends on its length.

Some of my ideas were shot down by Lucasfilm because they stepped on territory that has been reserved for the movies. I didn't have a problem with that.

When state and religion are one, religion becomes a means for the powerful to remain in power.

An SF author who reads only SF will have little new to contribute, but someone with a broader experience will bring more to the table.

The mass-market paperback, for one, is too expensive.

I went to college, though I didn't take many writing courses.

I now have to find a reason to write, every single day.

Working within the limitations of the shared world generally made the writing easier, because I didn't have to invent any of the characters or background, which is usually the hardest part.

Now I have to motivate myself much more than I had previously.