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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.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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.

Walter Jon Williams

For every SF reader of that period, Robert A. Heinlein was also a touchstone.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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.

Walter Jon Williams

I found college useful for a lot of other reasons. It exposed me to a great many influences I wouldn't otherwise have encountered, and gave me a lot of time with some very intelligent people whose thoughts are still with me.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

I wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

I've learned that I get blocked when my subconscious mind is telling me that I've taken the work in a wrong direction, and that once I start listening to what my subconscious is trying to tell me, I can work out the problem and get moving again.

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams

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

Walter Jon Williams