It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes… Continue reading Words that are Speaking to Me

  The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium. ~Norbet Platt  

I focus on creating situations that force the character out of her comfort zone, raising the emotional stakes as I go along. If I've developed conflicts that are organic and in keeping with the character's world, her response to conflicts will naturally lead to internal growth. --- Laurie Halse Anderson  

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." --- Maya Angelou

I've been thinking a lot about letting little things go and focusing on the things that really matter. "Today, fill your cup with sunshine and laughter." --- Dodinsky

"Have compassion for yourself when you write. There's no failure -- just a big field to wander in." - Natalie Goldberg

"Often I'll find clues to where the story might go by figuring out where the characters would rather not go." --Doug Lawson

Imagine yourself at the kitchen table, in your pajamas. Imagine one person you'd allow to see you that way, and write in the voice you'd use to that friend. --- Sandra Cisneros

Cyd Moore shared this quote, which is on her office door. It speaks to me. Art is, after all, only a trace -- like a footprint which shows that one has walked bravely and in great happiness. --- Robert Henri