James M. Cain
James M. Cain
James Mallahan Cainwas an American author and journalist. Cain vehemently opposed labeling, but he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and is seen as one of the creators of the roman noir. Several of his crime novels inspired successful movies...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth1 July 1892
CountryUnited States of America
James M. Cain quotes about
terrifying
I write of the wish that comes true - for some reason, a terrifying concept.
rabbits rattlesnakes
I loved her like a rabbit loves a rattlesnake
writing problem foreign-policy
Writing a novel is like working on foreign policy. There are problems to be solved. It's not all inspirational.
writing wish reason
I write of the wish that comes true--for some reason, a terrifying thought.
good-night lying writing
When it’s too good, you do it over again. Too good is too easy. If it’s too easy you have to worry. If you’re not lying awake at night worrying about it, the reader isn’t going to, either. I always know that when I get a good night’s sleep, the next day I’m not going to get any work done. Writing a novel is like working on foreign policy. There are problems to be solved. It’s not all inspirational.
writing night ifs
If your writing doesn`t keep you up at night, it won`t keep anyone else up either".
writing college typewriters
A lot of novelists start late-Conrad, Pirandello, even Mark Twain. When you're young, chess is all right, and music and poetry. But novel-writing is something else. It has to be learned, but it can't be taught. This bunkum and stinkum of college creative writing courses! The academics don't know that the only thing you can do for someone who wants to write is to buy him a typewriter.
effort tough conscious
I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called.
mean home museums
A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery. But it does have to be furnished with things that mean something to you.
dog beer rivers
O.K." "Gee I'm glad." "Me too. I'm so sick of hot dogs and beer and apple pie with cheese on the side I could heave it all in the river." "You'll love it, Frank. We'll get a place up in the mountains, where it's cool, and then, after I get my act ready, we can go all over the world with it. Go as we please, do as we please, and have plenty of money to spend. Have you got a little bit of gypsy in you?" "Gypsy? I had rings in my ears when I was born.
writing waiting mind
You have to wait for your mind to catch up with whatever it is it’s working on; then you can write a novel.