The instinct of creativity must be followed by the act, the physical act of putting it down for a sense of permanence. Once you get that prod, that emotional jar, that, 'I have witnessed something.' Or, 'I have felt something.' Or, 'I have seen something.' Or, through observation, 'I have been moved by an event.' I think the answer is, 'Get it down. Get it down quickly. Write it down.'

The creation of an idea, the following of a story germ, the building up of a plot, the creating of people of flesh-and-blood character - these are not easy thi…

Whenever you write, whatever you write, never make the mistake of assuming the audience is any less intelligent than you are.

It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears.

Song ideas have come to me in the middle of interviews, in the shower, or while I'm writing another song.

I started to write [The Name of the Rose] in March of 1978, moved by a seminal idea. I wanted to poison a monk.

You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice w…