James A. Michener
James A. Michener
James Albert Michenerwas an American author of more than 40 books, the majority of which were fictional, lengthy family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and incorporating solid history. Michener was known for the popularity of his works; he had numerous bestsellers and works selected for Book of the Month Club. He was also known for his meticulous research behind the books...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth3 February 1907
CountryUnited States of America
You don't fight to protect warships or old men. Like the book says, you fight to save your civilization. And so often it seems that civilization is composed mainly of the things women and children want.
Contrary to what people think, I slave over my books.
Not too many people work in a job where, waiting out there are three or four hundred people who are paid to tear apart what you've done. And often they are brighter than you are, or they know more about the subject than you do, or they wish they had written a book themselves, or done a lot better. Or they just don't like it! And you have to live with it.
Being goal-oriented instead of self-oriented is crucial. I know so many people who want to be writers. But let me tell you, they really don't want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print. They don't want to go through the work of getting the damn book out. There is a huge difference.
Only another writer, someone who had worked his heart out on a good book which sold three thousand copies, could appreciate the thrill that overcame me one April morning in 1973 when Dean Rivers of our small college in Georgia appeared at my classroom door
I do believe that everyone growing up faces differential opportunities. With me, it was books and travel and some good teachers.
Many people who want to be writers don't really want to be writers. They want to have been writers. They wish they had a book in print.
If your book doesn't keep you up nights when you are writing it, it won't keep anyone up nights reading it.
Unless you think you can do better than Tolstoy, we don't need you
The really great writers are people like Emily Bront? who sit in a room and write out of their limited experience and unlimited imagination.
They were a group of two dozen nurses completely surrounded by 100,000 unattached American men.
It was the silent time before dawn, along the shores of what had been one of the most beautiful lakes in southern Africa.
I think the bottom line is that if you get through a childhood like mine, it's not at all bad. Obviously, you come out a pretty tough turkey, and you have had all the inoculations you need to keep you on a level keel for the rest of your life. The sad part is, most of us don't come out.
I have only one bit of advice to beginning writers: be sure your novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.