All writers are the same - they forget a thousand good reviews and remember one bad one.

Quote by Irwin Shaw

Topics: Irwin Shaw Quotes

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that...

When I started out in the early 1930s, there were a great many magazines that...

In a novel, it's hard to keep track of everybody.

In a novel, it's hard to keep track of everybody.

I reach my readers regardless of what the critics have written.

I reach my readers regardless of what the critics have written.

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

A good editor understands what you're talking and writing about and doesn't meddle too much.

I haven't stuck to any formula. Most great writers stick to the same style, but...

I haven't stuck to any formula. Most great writers stick to the same style, but...

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy...

Writing is like a contact sport, like football. You can get hurt, but you enjoy...

Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously,...

Ernest Hemingway did a great deal toward making the writer an acceptable public figure; obviously,...

I've gone on the wagon, but my body doesn't believe it.

I've gone on the wagon, but my body doesn't believe it.

I'm not as hopeful as I was when I was young.

I'm not as hopeful as I was when I was young.

The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always...

The last paragraph, in which you tell what the story is about, is almost always...

The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I...

The romantic idea is that everybody around a writer must suffer for his talent. I...

No writer need feel sorry for himself if he writes and enjoys it, even if...

No writer need feel sorry for himself if he writes and enjoys it, even if...

I never show anything to anybody until I've finished it.

I never show anything to anybody until I've finished it.

My views naturally have mellowed. Most of the critics have been more or less nice...

My views naturally have mellowed. Most of the critics have been more or less nice...

Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form.

Writers of fiction, when they begin, are more likely to try the short form.

In America, we have the feeling of the doomed young artist. Fitzgerald was the great...

In America, we have the feeling of the doomed young artist. Fitzgerald was the great...

At the height of the McCarthy period, writers were being hounded.

At the height of the McCarthy period, writers were being hounded.

In the theater, characters have to cut the umbilical cord from the writer and talk...

In the theater, characters have to cut the umbilical cord from the writer and talk...

A writer is a human being. He has to live with a sense of honor.

A writer is a human being. He has to live with a sense of honor.

People who light up like Roman candles come down in the dark very quickly.

People who light up like Roman candles come down in the dark very quickly.