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"At one point I intended to write precursor and sequel novels, about the establishment of the Web and its next evolution, but I am very unlikely to now; they would take place in a different universe."
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"Twofold misjudgement. - The misfortune suffered by clear-minded and easily understood writers is that they are taken for shallow and thus little effort is expended on reading them: and the good fortune that attends the obscure is that the reader toils at them and ascribes to them the pleasure he has in fact gained from his own zeal."

"You want to avoid at all costs drawing your characters on those that already exist in other works of fiction. You must learn about people from people, not from what you read. Your reading should confirm what you've observed in the world."

"Copywriters, journalists, mainstream authors, ghostwriters, bloggers and advertising creatives have as much right to think of themselves as good writers as academics, poets, or literary novelists."

"I'd be somewhat of a lousy writer if I didn't know what to say."

"A true piece of writing sets you free."

"A writer travels through the heart again and again to express the beauty of its contents."

"It is said that you can't write without a reader. The opposite holds true as well; you can't read without a writer. But if as a single, creative person you are one in the same, then, well.....problem solved! Great writing is born from that which we personally long to read."
Explore more quotes by John M. Ford

"Sometimes the reader will decide something else than the author's intent; this is certainly true of attempts to empirically decipher reality."

"There are people who believe in an absolutely transparent prose; with every respect for clarity of expression, I don't."

"The cynical part of the answer is that I expect to see a good deal more space opera, set far enough in the future as to be disconnected from contemporary issues."

"The language fictional characters use is chosen for effect, at least if the author is concentrating."

"Creating the fictional background for a game world isn't significantly different from creating a background for fiction."

"The ideal, it seems to me, is to show things happening and allow the reader to decide what they mean."

"I'm very happy that the New York Times has spoken well of my stuff; who wouldn't be? But it's not a choice I made."

"Well, it's an adventure story, and a Bildungsroman, of course, but there was also the intention to describe a culture that had been seen in rather narrow terms."

"I don't think anyone wants a reader to be completely lost - certainly not to the point of giving up - but there's something to be said for a book that isn't instantly disposable, that rewards a second reading."
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