Top 66 Quotes & Sayings by Anne McCaffrey

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American author Anne McCaffrey.

Last updated on December 22, 2024.

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American-Irish writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.

American - Author | April 1, 1926 - November 21, 2011

Source: Wikipedia

Because we build the worlds we wouldn't mind living in. They contain scary things, problems, but also a sense of rightness that makes them alive and makes us want to live there.

Anne McCaffrey

What I used to do between writing fits was feed my kids, ride my horse and go shopping for cat and dog food.

Anne McCaffrey

I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well.

Anne McCaffrey

I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel.

Anne McCaffrey

I have always used emotion as a writing tool. That goes back to me being on the stage.

Anne McCaffrey

I didn't raise Todd to be a writer, but he happened to be one anyway.

Anne McCaffrey

But Ship Who Sang remains my favorite story. I really rocked folks with that and still cannot read it aloud myself without weeping at the end.

Anne McCaffrey

But I will say that living in Ireland has changed the cadence and fullness of speech, since the Irish love words and use as many of them in a sentence as possible.

Anne McCaffrey

Mostly I'm telling people that they don't have to be victims.

Anne McCaffrey

I do outlines when I'm writing with someone, but they also need to have a certain amount of freedom.

Anne McCaffrey

I'm 78, I'm on my pension in Ireland, and all that good stuff.

Anne McCaffrey

I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens.

Anne McCaffrey

I have my good days and my bad days, but I don't have as much energy as I used to back when I was young and foolish and didn't count the cost - and it takes a lot - to write.

Anne McCaffrey

Writing has been so much a part of my life that I'm really quite annoyed that I can't do as much as I used to.

Anne McCaffrey

I wouldn't encourage new writers to start off publishing through electronic media... it still isn't wide enough for the readership they would need to get a good start.

Anne McCaffrey

That's what writing is all about, after all, making others see what you have put down on the page and believing that it does, or could, exist and you want to go there.

Anne McCaffrey

That's such a thrill - a story I wrote at the beginning of my career, and it's still packin' the house.

Anne McCaffrey

I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime.

Anne McCaffrey

The thing is, emotion - if it's visibly felt by the writer - will go through all the processes it takes to publish a story and still hit the reader right in the gut. But you have to really mean it.

Anne McCaffrey

I also don't have organized religion on Pern. I figured - since there were four holy wars going on at the time of writing - that religion was one problem Pern didn't need.

Anne McCaffrey

People have freaked out when I tell them that my dragons are scientifically based... what else can you call a genetically engineered life form?

Anne McCaffrey

Make no judgements where you have no compassion.

Anne McCaffrey

I don't often reread my own books, unless I am going into another in the series and need to refresh my mood when originating the concept.

Anne McCaffrey

I think writers need windows on a view to remind them that a whole world is out there, not the minutiae with which they might be dealing on a close scale.

Anne McCaffrey

I have written my own screen version of Pern, but had no buyers yet.

Anne McCaffrey

A good story is a good story no matter who wrote it.

Anne McCaffrey

I'm very fond of the Talent series, and also the Crystal Singer trio.

Anne McCaffrey

At age 77, I need the help of someone with more energy than I can now summon to finish a book.

Anne McCaffrey

I didn't mean to stay up all night to finish Windhaven, but I had to!

Anne McCaffrey

I did not have a chance to write novels until my youngest child started school fulltime

Anne McCaffrey

Each email contains an unsubscribe link. We will NEVER sell, rent, loan, or abuse your email address in ANY way. Writing has been so much a part of my life that I'm really quite annoyed that I can't do as much as I used to.

Anne McCaffrey

Mostly I'm telling people that they don't have to be victims

Anne McCaffrey

The horse, the noblest, bravest, proudest, most courageous and certainly the most perverse and infuriating animal that humans ever domesticated

Anne McCaffrey

I didn't raise Todd to be a writer, but he happened to be one anyway

Anne McCaffrey

I have my good days and my bad days, but I don't have as much energy as I used to back when I was young and foolish and didn't count the cost - and it takes a lot - to write

Anne McCaffrey

I wouldn't encourage new writers to start off publishing through electronic media... it still isn't wide enough for the readership they would need to get a good start

Anne McCaffrey

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.

Anne McCaffrey

Fight only in direst need Not for lust or petty greed Honor those that do give birth Respect them well for their full worth

Anne McCaffrey

But I will say that living in Ireland has changed the cadence and fullness of speech, since the Irish love words and use as many of them in a sentence as possible

Anne McCaffrey

I'm 78, I'm on my pension in Ireland, and all that good stuff

Anne McCaffrey

But Ship Who Sang remains my favorite story. I really rocked folks with that and still cannot read it aloud myself without weeping at the end

Anne McCaffrey

I would recommend the short story form, which is a lot harder to write since you have to be so careful with words, until there is plenty of time to doodle through a novel

Anne McCaffrey

Step by step Moment by moment We live through Another day

Anne McCaffrey

The blackest night must end in dawn, the light dispel the dreamer's fear.

Anne McCaffrey

James Blish told me I had the worst case of "said bookism" (that is, using every word except said to indicate dialogue). He told me to limit the verbs to said, replied, asked, and answered and only when absolutely necessary.

Anne McCaffrey

I have always used emotion as a writing tool. That goes back to me being on the stage

Anne McCaffrey

My eyes are green, my hair is silver and I freckly; the rest is subject to change without notice.

Anne McCaffrey

How much can a dragon carry? As much as it thinks it can

Anne McCaffrey

To cry was to release all sorts of ugly little pressures and tensions. Like waking out of a long, dark dream to a sun-filled day.

Anne McCaffrey

I don't often reread my own books, unless I am going into another in the series and need to refresh my mood when originating the concept

Anne McCaffrey

I do outlines when I'm writing with someone, but they also need to have a certain amount of freedom

Anne McCaffrey

Fear has its uses but cowardice has none.

Anne McCaffrey

At age 77, I need the help of someone with more energy than I can now summon to finish a book

Anne McCaffrey

I think the Internet, particularly the availability of information, is great. I do a lot of correspondence on-line and have a chat line to talk to my fans as well

Anne McCaffrey

Above us, outlined against the brilliant sky, dragons crowded every available perching space on the Rim. And the sun made a gold of every one of them.

Anne McCaffrey

I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens

Anne McCaffrey

Tell a story! Don't try to impress your reader with style or vocabulary or neatly turned phrases. Tell the story first!

Anne McCaffrey

Living is struggling to do something impossible; To succeed or die, knowing that you had tried.

Anne McCaffrey

Make no judgments where you have no compassion.

Anne McCaffrey

Who wills, Can. Who tries, Does. Who loves, Lives.

Anne McCaffrey