Tag: Katherine Paterson

I Write What I Can

by atozmom, posted in Writing

And I never think about what I’m doing until afterwards.  I write the stories I can write.  This is paraphrasing Katherine Paterson again.

This makes me feel so much better.  I often think how writers infuse deep meaning into their works but I just can’t ever seem to sit down and do it.  I just write and follow the thread of my characters and see where it leads me.  There is really no planning to it.  Then I wonder if I’ve said anything at all relevant.

Now I know I will write my stories how I see them.  Someone else will write something completely different.  That’s what makes us unique.  The meaning will come of itself.  No one can steal your novel from you–you can only write yours.

Time after time, writers stumble blindly upon the very secrets that will serve to unlock the story they are currently struggling with.  (Katherine Paterson).  This is true for me.  I get ideas that just pop out and end up right where they need to be.

If you let living people into a story, they will move each other.  If you put in constructed characters, you’ll have to do the moving yourself.  The reader won’t be fooled. (Katherine Paterson)

Writing is a form of self-judgment.  See truth that cannot be observed directly.

My job is to write.  Your job is to get meaning out of it.

What is there in the psyche that prevents you from writing something for years, and then suddenly, without any warning, tells you that the time is ripe?  A writer must write about what impinges on her own life, not try to guess what will be important.

The gift I have been given is a limited one.  We must be true to the gift God has given.  We must try to give back something of what we’ve been given.  And a writer has no life to give but her own. (Paraphrasing Katherine Paterson again)

The Healing Power of Books

by atozmom, posted in Life, Writing

Katherine Paterson said, “Books can help make peace within a child’s troubled heart.  We must be brave enough to give children books that have the power to heal.”

I LOVE this.  I believe this is one of my goals in writing books.  I deal with difficult subjects and portray characters who come through it.  My books are full of hope and I think kids need more of that these days with every thing that society throws at them.

The books that make the most impact on our lives are those whom we can identify with the main character.  Why do we identify with them?  Because we see ourselves in them.  This is what makes books great and gives them lasting endurance.

Good Writing Quotes for Inspiration

by atozmom, posted in Writing

Occasionally, I like to post good writing quotes for inspiration for those of us who often need it as we try to break into the publishing industry.

Here’s one from Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia:

“The challenge for those of us who care about our faith and about a hurting world is to tell stories which will carry the words of grace and hope in their bones and sinews and not wear them like fancy dress.”