William Makepeace Thackeray:

   Many a bitter smile passed over Pen’s face as he read his novel, and recalled the time and feelings which gave it birth.  How pompous some of the grand passages appeared; and how weak others were in which he thought he had expressed his full heart!  This page was imitated from a then favorite author, as he could now clearly see and confess, though he had believed himself to be writing originally then.  As he mused over certain lines he recollected the place and hour where he wrote them: the ghost of the dead feeling came back as he mused, and he blushed to review the faint image.

   Pendennis

   Julius drew himself up.
   “I don’t write for the sake of amusement,” he answered nobly.  “The joy that I feel in writing is superior to any that I might find in living.  Moreover, the one is not incompatible with the other.”
   “So they say,” replied Lafcadio.  Then abruptly raising his voice, which he had dropped as though inadvertently: “Do you know what it is I dislike about writing?—All the scratchings out and touchings up that are necessary.”
   “Do you think there are no corrections in life too?” asked Julius, beginning to prick up his ears.
   “You misunderstand me.  In life one corrects oneself—one improves oneself—so people say; but one can’t correct what one does.  It’s the power of revising that makes writing such a colorless affair—such a . . .”  (He left his sentence unfinished.)  “Yes!  That’s what seems to me so fine about life.  It’s like frescoe-painting—erasures aren’t allowed.”

Les Caves du Vatican (Lafacdio’s Adventures)

See also: 
H&L 001: FOR YEARS, I tried to avoid writing this book.
LF 002: I began writing "My Mother Takes a Tumble" not with the aim of commemorating that event but to find a woman for Mr. Beaker. 
LF 19 writing letters, as "Mary Strong," to lonely men who from time to time could be persuaded to send the unfortunate Miss Strong some money 
LF 150 after a few bottles anybody with a regret, a pang, a fear -- any weepy drunk -- could write a poem suitable for the once-proud Leroy Lager label 
LF 825 All you have to do is write your name and address on a piece of paper, along with your name for the school. 

(Topical Guide to CPL(sf), p. 164) 

A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, dialogues, settings, and businesses portrayed in it are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

All rights reserved. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. 

Portions of A Topical Guide to the Complete Peter Leroy (so far) were first published by Voyager, Inc., as part of The Complete Peter Leroy (so far).

The illustration at the top of the page is an adaptation of an illustration by Stewart Rouse that first appeared on the cover of the August 1931 issue of Modern Mechanics and Inventions. The boy at the controls of the aerocycle doesn’t particularly resemble Peter Leroy—except, perhaps, for the smile.