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Writing Quote Wednesday: Looking Forward
“In every situation, at the beginning or the end of the workday, you have a choice. You can look back or you can look forward. My advice: look forward. Always think about the next day.” —Twila Tharp, THE CREATIVE HABIT On days that I don’t prepare the night…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Creating the Habit of Art
“Creating art is a habit, one that we practice daily or hourly until we get good at it.” —Seth Godin, The Icarus Deception Last weekend, the “We’re All in This Together” folks gave advice on finding time to write (see Post 1 and Post 2). Truthfully, I…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Failure
“The person who fails the most usually wins.” —Seth Godin POKE THE BOX Last weekend, several children’s writers joined me in writing about dealing with rejection. It’s important for us to remember that no success is achieved without failures along the way.
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Imperfection
“As artists and as human, we have to learn to color inside the line that is imperfect, messy, or even a mistake. Nothing in your life will ever be just right. There will always be pressures and conflicts, making errant smudges and splatters on your life. Living a “good”…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Beautiful Things
“Sometimes, beautiful things are not recognized by more than just one or two people. That doesn’t make them less beautiful.” Life After Art: What You Forgot About Life and Faith Since You Left the Art Room by Matt Appling Have you struggled with your writing? Do you wonder if…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Interesting Finds
“There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me…” —Thomas Jefferson March has been my month of Virginia history. It wasn’t intentional, but after looking back on three trips to various parts of Virginia, I realize I’ve coming across a lot of interesting finds. I went…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Becoming an Artist
“You don’t make art after you become an artist. You become an artist by ceaselessly making art.” –Seth Godin, THE ICARUS DECEPTION: HOW HIGH WILL YOU FLY? These pea shoots are barely popping out of the March ground. But little by little they will make their way up…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Curiosity and Rigor
Last fall I watched several 99u videos as part of a class I was taking. One video with Andrew Zuckerman really stood out. Andrew Zuckerman’s 99u talk: “On Curiosity, Rigor, and Learning as You Go” My favorite quote from this video is this: “When curiosity and rigor get…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Risk
“Risk is essential. It’s scary. Every time I sit down and start the first page of a novel I am risking failure.” —Madeleine L’Engle from Madeleine L’Engle Herself as quoted in The Literary Ladies: Guide to the Writing Life by Nava Atlas, p. 79 I had the privilege…
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Writing Quote Wednesday: Imagination
“Imagination, which is a quality writers must have, does not mean the ability to weave stories out of nothing. In the right sense, imagination is a response to what is going on—a sensitiveness to which outside things appeal. It is a composition of sympathy and observation.” —Willa Cather, from…