Here are a few statements that never fail to inspire me when I sit down to write:
"If a story is in you, it has got to come out." William Faulkner
"Fact and fiction [are] both truths of life." Patricia MacLachlan
"I always write for the child in me, and she is still in there." Katherine Paterson
"What you forget goes into the compost of the imagination... Your past is full of stories that have been composed in a certain way; that's what memories are. But only when they decompose are you able to recompose them into new works of art."
Graham Greene
And this is something that our own Christy Hale said when we were posting on the topic of revision. I taped it next to my computer to keep me plugging away at the first draft of a novel.
"It's easier to improve imperfect jottings than to wait for perfection before beginning." Christy Hale
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3 comments:
Thanks, Edie, for crediting me with a thought that I'm sure isn't original.
I just signed up to take a middle grade/YA novel writing class at Stanford. I'm delving into memories in anticipation, and contemplating blends of fact and fiction. Your quotes all are relevant. That Graham Greene one is particularly intriguing to me.
Great quotes Edie! Faulkner's seems especially imperative to me these days. And Christy's is timely. Christy, I look forward to hearing about your course at Stanford!
All of these are great, Edie. Such essential nuggets of truth in only a few words. After only a week of quotes being posted here, I'm running out of sticky notes!!
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