A moving video about all libraries do for everyone in their communities:
Libraries are for readers, for the young and old, for people who are searching for jobs, for people who are learning new languages, for people who are new to their communities, for people who can’t leave their homes, for people who need some help, for people who want to share their knowledge.
Libraries are for everyone.
Let’s make sure our libraries get the support they deserve.
Daniel Tiger. Photo by Greg Dunlap from Stockholm, Sweden
via Wikicommons
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”–Fred Rogers
It’s been a tough month for a lot of wonderful people I know, so I wanted to share this fantastic quote by one of the all-time best people. No matter what you’re going through right now, remember that you matter to so many other people.
Today I’m over at OneFour Kidlit talking about how I created a playlist for The Chance You Won’t Return and why that helped me through the writing process. (Plus gifs, of course.)
Another song that felt just right for The Chance You Won’t Return was “Simple Song” by the Shins:
I especially like the chorus: “Don’t go thinking you gotta be tough, to play like a stone / Could be there’s nothing else in our lives so critical / As this little home!” It totally reminds me of Alex trying to hide all the drama at home from her boyfriend and friends. And the song itself has that great forward momentum that I associate with a lot of the songs from the TCYWR playlist.
Do you associate certain songs with your books/characters? Share them in the comments!
An awesome video about the Toronto Public Library system and why it needs support.
I think most public libraries (or school libraries for that matter) could say the same. Every so often I see articles about how libraries are dying and how they’re not necessary anymore, but they continue to be a vital resource for their communities–for readers, for families, for educators, for students of all ages, etc. Now more than ever, we need our libraries.
(via bookshelves of doom)
Two years ago, I was doing this:
Since then, we’ve gone on adventures, shared jokes and hilarious cat videos, and cooked lots of tasty meals. We’re both writers, so these two years have also included evenings in separate rooms, typing away. Sometimes people ask what it’s like to be married to another writer, and so far it’s working out pretty well for us. Here are my reasons why you should marry* a writer:
But most importantly, you should marry someone who supports you and your writing. Who knows that this is your passion and your work, and loves that this is a major part of who you are. I know lots of people think pain and suffering makes good art, but I’m inclined to think that love and support are at the top of the list.
*And my “marry” I mean “share your heart with.” Forget traditional gender roles and structures.
People closest to me know that a) I’m not musical, and b) I really wish I were musical. But that doesn’t mean I can’t take inspiration from famous composers! Here’s a collection of great quotes from composers about making art. A few of my favorites:
“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”–Robert Schumann
I love this idea and this image. I feel this connects especially well to YA, which is so often about first encounters with despair and grief and pain, but ultimately also hope and love.
“The old idea of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting up all night to write it is nonsense. Nighttime is for sleeping.”–Benjamin Britten
Okay, everyone’s process and schedule is different. Some people work late into the night, and others get up super early in the morning to get work done. But a) I love sleep, and b) for me, lots of writing happens when I make myself sit down and work, not when inspiration suddenly strikes. The “feverish writing all night” image is kind of romantic, but I think it neglects the work that writers put in day-to-day.
“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.”–Johannes Brahms
In a similar vein, I love this focus on craftsmanship. You can have the best idea in the world, but it takes work and craft and thought to bring it to life on the page.
Click through for more composer quotes.
(image: crazybobbles)
The last few weeks have been stressful and busy, and the next few weeks are going to be much the same. Which means I feel like:
Even things I enjoy, like writing, feel like a chore:
I recently came across this quote from Susan Orlean on writing, which seems particularly helpful when I’m stressed and when the writing is hard:
“You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.”
It’s easy to love writing when the words are flowing and you have the time to focus on your craft. But sometimes you have to remind yourself that you love it and that it’s worth it, even if you only get a few words down at a time.
So if you’re having a rough time and feel like the words aren’t flowing, try to remind yourself that you love writing, even when it’s hard and you feel like you can’t get anything on paper. Loving writing when it’s hard is when you’re at your most writerly.
At Limebird Writers, Kate has a great post about when you know you’re a writer and if that affects your writerly journey. She makes the point that, for some, it’s not something you decide to do and can really plan a career for. I especially like:
“Sometimes, writers don’t even decide to be writers. Rather, we accidentally fall in love with storybuilding. Forget planning futures and budgets and retirement. We are so rip-roaring drunk on words that we can’t tear ourselves away long enough to think logically, rationally.
For those of us who are writers long before we recognized the symptoms, how could we possibly prepare ourselves in advance? No wonder I didn’t have a mentor. No wonder I didn’t keep my early stories. Should I really be surprised? I didn’t know what I was! I didn’t know I was already on my quest.”
Like Kate, I didn’t know I was a writer just because I liked making up stories. I thought everyone liked making up stories! Of course I filled marble notebooks with characters and the first page or two of stories that were blatant knock-offs of whatever you were reading at the time–that’s what everyone did in their spare time, right? Eventually I realized that writing (or reading) wasn’t something everyone did for fun and found that it was something people got to do as a career. What could be cooler than that?
And even though I studied English literature and creative writing, that doesn’t mean you need to do the same to be a writer. Like Kate says in her post, there aren’t specific guidelines or paths for writers in the same way there are for doctors or lawyers. Being a writer means a million different things to a million different people. But for most of us, part of it means that need to share stories that you’ve always felt.
Make sure to check out the full post.
Today I’m interviewed as part of the Writer Odyssey Wednesday series at Chasing the Crazies. Amy and I talk about querying agents, the inspiration for The Chance You Won’t Return, getting through the rough times, and my favorite piece of writerly advice. Thanks so much to Amy for including me in this fabulous series!
Click through for all the interview goodness, and check out the previous author interviews in the W.O.W. series.
Sometimes being a writer is tough. We have to deal with constant rejection and, even when we are successful, we don’t really know what the future will bring. So today, I want to share one of my favorite movie inspiration moments:
Whenever you feel like quitting, remember Junior and Yul Brenner. Now let’s get out there and write!