“Never delegate the understanding.”

–Charles Eames

“Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing.”

— Salvador Dali

“Literature has no practical function, but every day people die for lack of what is found there.”

-William Carlos Williams

“You know how it is in the kid’s book world; it’s just bunny eat bunny.”

-anonymous

“Writing is more about discipline than inspiration. It is easier to edit a bad page than a blank page.” 

-Jodi Picoult

“FAILURE: What better evidence that you’re pushing your boundaries?” 

-Ralph Keyes

“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.”

-Annie Dillard

“I believe that fear is useful…

What you are most afraid of is where the energy will flow the strongest, and for a writer, if you write in that direction, toward where the fear is, it’s like a homing signal for what you need to do. There is no safety in writing well.”

-Dorothy Allison