Twenty of America’s bestselling authors share tricks, tips, and secrets of the successful writing life.

Anyone who’s ever sat down to write a novel or even a story knows how exhilarating and heartbreaking writing can be. So what makes writers stick with it? In Why We Write, twenty well-known authors candidly share what keeps them going and what they love most -

and least -

about their vocation.

‘Every story is a seed inside of me that starts to grow and grow, like a tumor, and I have to deal with it sooner or later.’ Isabel Allende

‘In the beginning, it was that sense of losing time. Now … I have the sense that I can biff the world a bit. I can exert a force.’ Michael Lewis

‘When I’m writing … I’m living in two different dimensions- this life I’m living now … and this completely other world I’m inhabiting that no one else knows about.’ Jennifer Egan

‘If writing were illegal I’d be in prison. I can’t not write. It’s a compulsion.’ David Baldacci

Praise for Why We Write

‘Writers will be reassured and readers will learn much about th joys and struggles of the writing life.’ Jason Epstein

‘Why do we writers do what we do? Because we must. Because the alternative is untenable. An inspiring, illuminating book.’ Dani Shapiro

‘The perfect warm-up to a good day of work, an antidote to writer’s block-a must

have secret weapon of inspiration for any writer’s reference shelf.’ A. M. Homes