Don't ever write just for a trend or fad, because it's a moving target, and by the time you get your work out there, the trend or fad is gone. Dig deep; don't be afraid to write fiercely. Expose your heart.
Jane YolenRead
But as the scissors snip-snapped through her hair and the razor shaved the rest, she realized with a sudden awful panic that she could no longer recall anything from the past. I cannot remember, she whispered to herself. I cannot remember. She's been shorn of memory as brutally as she'd been shorn of her hair, without permission, without reason... Gone, all gone, she thought again wildly, no longer even sure what was gone, what she was mourning.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote explores the theme of loss, particularly the loss of memory and identity.
In this passage by Jane Yolen, the character experiences a profound loss not only of her hair but also of her memories, leading to a deep existential crisis. The emotional weight of forgetting pieces of one’s past poses a critical question about identity and what it means to be oneself when memory is stripped away, suggesting that our memories form a crucial part of our existence and understanding of the world.
Themes
MemoryIdentityLossExistenceEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of memories in shaping who we are.
More from Jane Yolen
All quotes →I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told.
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What makes a good book? Scholars and critics have been debating that question for decades. I like books that touch my head and my heart at the same time.
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Just write. If you have to make a choice, if you say, 'Oh well, I'm going to put the writing away until my children are grown,' then you don't really want to be a writer. If you want to be a writer, you do your writing... If you don't do it, you probably don't want to be a writer, you just want to have written and be famous—which is very different.
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I believe that culture begins in the cradle . . .To do without tales and stories and books is to lose humanity's past, is to have no star map for our future.
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Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become.
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