R. L. Stine Quotes

Read. Read. Read. Just don't read one type of book. Read different books by various authors so that you develop different styles.

Well, when I was 13, for my bar mitzvah I received my first typewriter. And that was special.

Many adults feel that every children's book has to teach them something.... My theory is a children's book... can be just for fun.

Sometimes it helps to scold yourself, to give yourself advice.

I feel happy to terrify kids.

When I write, I try to think back to what I was afraid of or what was scary to me, and try to put those feelings into books.

The only lesson is, you gotta keep at it.

Everything that has happened to me has been amazing and surprising.

I've had a very sheltered life. What can happen to you if you stay home writing all day?

I believe that kids as well as adults are entitled to books of no socially redeeming value.

Well, I hate it when authors come into a school and they say to kids, 'Write from your heart, only write what you know, and write from your heart.' I hate that because it's useless. I've written over 300 books - not one was written from my heart. Not one. They were all written for an audience, they were all written to entertain a certain audience.

Normally, I spend a week on the outline and take two weeks to write the book.

You have no control [over natural disaster]. That's what's scary about it. You're helpless. That feeling of helplessness is really scary.

People say, 'What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?' I say, they don't really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they're gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.

When I was a kid my family was really poor and I remember one Halloween I wanted to dress up really scary and my parents came home with a duck costume. I wore that costume for years! I hated it.

I used to get a haircut every Saturday so I would never miss any of the comic books. I had practically no hair when I was a kid!

I started writing when I was 9 years old. I was like this weird kid who would just stay in my room, typing little funny magazines and drawing comic strips.

I've never dreamed of a story idea. I have such boring dreams.

A real New Yorker likes the sound of a garbage truck in the morning.

Most fears are basic: fear of the dark, fear of going down in the basement, fear of weird sounds, fear that somebody is waiting for you in your closet. Those kinds of things stay with you no matter what age.

I drive a lot in the summertime, but after that, I don't drive if there's snow predicted for anywhere in 500 miles.

I do like a lot of things that a lot of adults would scoff at. 'SpongeBob SquarePants,' 'Looney Tunes.'

I've never turned into a bee - I've never been chased by a mummy or met a ghost. But many of the ideas in my books are suggested by real life.

After spending 22 years in Ohio, I love everything about New York.

I'm obsessed with radio. It's a good start to Sunday morning.

It's hard for children's authors to be accepted when they try to write adult books. J.K. Rowling is the exception because people are so eager to read anything by her, but it took Judy Blume three or four tries before she had a success.

I have a great office.

I have a cheat-sheet for each one of my characters about their personality, the way they look, etc. So there is no possible way that I could have writer's block.

I got the chance to do things that I dreamed of when I was a kid: I got to travel around the world; I had my own 'Goosebumps' attraction at Disney World; I've been on TV and had three TV series.

I haven't written a young-adult book in years. I'm also doing six 'Goosebumps' books a year now.

If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles.

I always just wanted to be funny. I never really planned to be scary.

If you do enough planning before you start to write, there's no way you can have writer's block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline.

It's my job, too, to keep up with pop culture and what the kids are into 'cause you don't want to sound like an old man trying to write for kids. I spend a lot of my time spying on them.

Well, first you have to love writing. A lot of authors love having written. But I enjoy the actual writing. Beside that, I think the main reason I can be so prolific is the huge amount of planning I do before I start to write. I do a very complete, chapter-by-chapter outline of every book I write. When I sit down to write, I already know everything that's going to happen in the book. This means I've done all the important thinking, and I can relax and enjoy the writing. I could never write so many books if I didn't outline them first.

I've killed hundreds of teenagers. Hundreds. And I didn't know why. Why did I enjoy doing it so much? Why? And then I realized - I had a teenager at home!

I should be concentrating on writing pages.

I guess I'm way too kind and generous, and a saint - if you can believe that!

I've made myself laugh from some ideas - but I've never scared myself.

Making my class laugh and getting in trouble. I was the class clown.

You guys are just jealous because i'm a natural athlete and you can't cross the street without falling on your face." -(Bird) Doug

At least I can write.

I've lived in New York for 40 years. I came right after college.

I love theme parks but I'm a real chicken on rides. I'd rather invent scary rides for my books than go on them for real.

I'm a total Disney freak. I want to live in Disney World.

The next day, Greg is so large that he cannot even ride the car to school because he can't fit in the car. His parents believe this to have been caused by a food allergy and resolve to take him to the doctor later.