Nicholas Sparks
Romance is thinking about your significant other, when you are supposed to be thinking about something else.Collection: Valentines
The first thing I did when I sold my book was buy a new wedding ring for my wife and asked her to marry me all over again.Collection: Wedding
I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.Collection: Love
I have a great wife and it's very easy to be romantic because it makes her happy and then my life is so much better when she's happy.Collection: Romantic
My wife, my family, my friends - they've all taught me things about love and what that emotion really means. In a nutshell, loving someone is about giving, not receiving.Collection: Love
None of my characters are rich or famous, and the situations they find themselves in could happen to anyone.Collection: Famous
Loving once and only once is possible - anything is possible.
I don't write romance novels.
Spreading the news is your duty as a Christian, and there are many ways to do this.
I read over a hundred books a year and have done so since I was fifteen years old, and every book I've read has taught me something.
I very seldom, very seldom, even know what my characters look like.
Over time, quality work will lead to an audience for your work.
I suppose more than anything, it's the way of life in this part of the country that influences my writing. In Eastern North Carolina, with the exception of Wilmington, most people live in small towns.
Publishing is a business. Writing may be art, but publishing, when all is said and done, comes down to dollars.
I'll admit that it's not easy to get an agent, but becoming successful in anything requires perseverance.
I think that enduring, committed love between a married couple, along with raising children, is the most noble act anyone can aspire to. It is not written about very much.
What's the challenge in writing a novel that few people will read? I'm more than happy writing what I do and have no plans to change that.
I think that men know how to romance a woman and most do it well, at least for a time, otherwise women wouldn't marry them. The problem is that most of them begin to rest on their laurels.
By reading a lot of novels in a variety of genres, and asking questions, it's possible to learn how things are done - the mechanics of writing, so to speak - and which genres and authors excel in various areas.
Focus in on the genre you want to write, and read books in that genre. A LOT of books by a variety of authors. And read with questions in your mind.
In all love stories the theme is love and tragedy, so by writing these types of stories, I have to include tragedy.
All characters come from people I know, but after the initial inspiration, I tend to modify the characters so they fit with the story.
Writing the last page of the first draft is the most enjoyable moment in writing. It's one of the most enjoyable moments in life, period.
I suppose I'm most influenced by any good, commercial writer. I learn from everyone.
I write 2,000 words a day when I write. It sometimes takes three hours, it sometimes takes five hours.
I'm writing a new love story, set in eastern North Carolina. Surprise, surprise, huh?
There's always pressure, a great deal of pressure, when writing, since my first books were so successful.
Rekindled love is generally short-term.
I have certain moral parameters that I do not cross in writing; I don't write about adultery or kids having premarital sex.
I do not use profanity in my novels. My characters all go to church.
To be quite honest, I've been very blessed when I've worked with Hollywood. The studios that have purchased my work to be adapted to film have really liked the work and wanted to stay as close as they could to what the book was.
Because publishing is becoming more business-oriented each day with more examination of the bottom line, it's harder to break out than ever.
Above all, a query letter is a sales pitch and it is the single most important page an unpublished writer will ever write. It's the first impression and will either open the door or close it. It's that important, so don't mess it up. Mine took 17 drafts and two weeks to write.
A typical agent in New York gets 400 query letters a month. Of those, they might ask to read 3-4 manuscripts, and of those, they might ask to represent 1.
If you look for me, I'm in the fiction section. Romance has its own section.
I would be rejected if I submitted any of my novels as romance novels.
I think, above all, the characters in my novels feel universal to the readers.
Dramatic fiction - William Shakespeare made his biggest mark writing dramatic love stories.
It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you've known forever don't see things the way you do. So you keep the wonderful memories, but find yourself moving on.Collection: Moving On
For nothing is more fulfilling than love itselfCollection: Fulfilling
In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - when you least expect it - sets you on a course that you never planned, into a future you never imagined.Collection: Life
We’d met at a carefree time, a moment full of promise, in its place now were the harsh lessons of the real world.Collection: Real
Sometimes we need to be apart to understand just how much we truly love each other .Collection: Notebook
It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.Collection: Moving On
Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that.Collection: Life
You might not believe it...but you make the world a better place when you smile.Collection: Believe
You know, the smallest thing can change a life. In the blink of an eye, something happens by chance - and when you least expect it - since we’re on a course that you could have never planned, into a future you never imagined. Where will it take you? That’s the journey of our lives: our search for the light. But sometimes, finding the light means you must past through the deepest darkness.Collection: Mean
Spending time with you showed me what I’ve been missing in my life.Collection: Missing
Dear John, There's so much I want to say to you, but I'm not sure where I should begin. Should I start by telling you that I love you? Or that the days I've spent with you have been the happiest in my life? Or that in the short time I've known you, I've come to believe that we were meant to be together? I could say all those things and all would be true, but as I reread them, all I can think is that I wish I were with you now, holding your hand and watching your elusive smile.Collection: Believe
I want to wake up with you beside me in the mornings. I want to spend my evenings looking at you across the dinner table. I want to share every mundane detail of my day with you and hear every detail of yours. I want to laugh with you and fall asleep with you in my arms.Collection: Morning