“The only way to write a book...”

Quotes to Write By

“The only way to write a book, I’m fond of telling people, is to actually write a book. That’s how you write a book.”

– Anne Enright

I owe part of my writerly education to writers. Not just their works but their reflections on the writing life. I’ve chosen Anne Enright for my first Quotes to Write By post as a nod to my Irish roots, on my maternal side.

The quote is from a Seattle Public Library event with the Irish novelist on Feb. 19, 2009–which I was lucky to experience in person.

Reading and Q&A

Enright reads from the The Gathering, which won the 2007 Booker Prize. The quote is from the end of the Q&A, but I highly recommend that you listen to the reading too (05:26-30:50). She reads well, nicely performative!

Topics addressed during the Q&A include:

  • Irish society and Irish mothers
  • The novel she’d hoped to write
  • Whether writing can be taught

Writing prompt

Behind me, my mother opens the sitting room door. ‘Will you have something? A cup of tea?’ But I do not want to go into the sitting room. I am not a visitor. This is my house too. I was inside it, as it grew; as the dining room was knocked into the kitchen, as the kitchen swallowed the back garden. It is the place where my dreams still happen.

The above quote is from Chapter 2, which Enright read from. Choose a place where your “dreams still happen.” Situate yourself there in your mind, then start writing.