When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor or the reviewer or anyone but my characters and their story!
Judy BlumeRead
I was always a storyteller. I just didn't know it. I never shared the stories I made up inside my head when I was growing up. I never wrote them down, either. But I can't remember a time when they weren't there.
Interpretation
Storytelling is an inherent part of creativity that often goes unrecognized until it is expressed.
Judy Blume reflects on the innate nature of storytelling that existed within her from a young age, even before she consciously recognized it. This quote illustrates the idea that creativity often simmers beneath the surface, waiting for the right moment or impetus to be shared with the world, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and articulating our inner narratives.
In practice
During a workshop on creativity, you might use this quote to inspire participants to explore their own stories.
When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor or the reviewer or anyone but my characters and their story!
What I remember when I started to write was how I couldn't wait to get up in the morning to get to my characters.
What can happen if a young reader picks up a book he/she isn't yet ready for? Questions, maybe. Usually, that child puts down the book and says, 'Boring.' Or, 'I'm not ready for this.' Kids are really good at knowing what they can handle.
Concentrate on how good if feels to be alive. No matter what. Just to see the color of the sky, just to smell the air, and feel the wind in your face
I wrote 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' right out of my own experiences and my own feelings when I was in sixth grade.
Nobody ever asks me why my characters don't text each other. Besides, as soon as you put something 'electronic' in a book, it's already out of date by the time it's published: everything will have changed. Human emotion, on the other hand, will never change.
Everything written is as good as it is dramatic. It need not declare itself in form, but it is drama or nothing.
In the early stages of creation of both art and science, everything in the mind is a story.
That strain again! It had a dying fall: _x000D_ _x000D_ O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound _x000D_ _x000D_ That breathes upon a bank of violets, _x000D_ _x000D_ Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more: _x000D_ _x000D_ 'Tis not so sweet as it was before.
Few sensible authors are happy discussing the creative process--it is, after all, black magic.
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
I like to know the places I write about. I feel like it helps me ground the novel. My novels are 'realistic novels,' but they can also be fantastical, so it's nice to have a setting that grounds them a little bit.
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