I think, even though homophobia still exists, there is much more of a dialogue and a taboo around being homophobic. Jacqueline Woodson More Quotes by Jacqueline Woodson More Quotes From Jacqueline Woodson I think that happens for a lot of people, they have this idea that there's only one type of way to write poetry and that you have to have this information. You have to know about meter, you have to know about form, you have to know about iambic pentameter, and all of that. Jacqueline Woodson writing ideas thinking We do inherently know that poetry is about the way we speak. It's about where we pause, where we drop our words in the middle of a sentence. It's about the rhythm and the cadence of the way we speak. It's about putting that down at the end of the day. Jacqueline Woodson cadence our-words the-end-of-the-day As a poet who has the tools for interpreting the poem differently, you can begin to deconstruct it. But the human being who's like, "I know about conversation, I know about language, I know about hard times," will approach the poem differently. Jacqueline Woodson hard-times language tools To watch your home change in front of you is surprising. But at the same time, going someplace like Mississippi, makes me appreciate even this. Jacqueline Woodson appreciate home watches People who are living in economic struggle are more than their circumstances. They're majestic and creative and beautiful. Jacqueline Woodson creative struggle beautiful people I'm fascinated by adult women who don't have close friends and how that could come to be. I think when you're a kid, the relationships are so intimate, and you're so connected to your girls, so what becomes of them? What could possibly happen to have you become an adult woman and no longer have that? Jacqueline Woodson woman you friends women Friendship is such an important thing to me, and I feel like the people who I love and help keep me whole - I can't imagine a life without them. Jacqueline Woodson me love friendship life The more specific we are, the more universal something can become. Life is in the details. If you generalize, it doesn't resonate. The specificity of it is what resonates. Jacqueline Woodson something you details life My writing is inspired by where I come from, where I am today, and where I hope to go some day. Jacqueline Woodson i-am day hope today Every time you revisit a book, you get something else out of it. Jacqueline Woodson something you time book As a child in South Carolina, I spent summers like so many children - sitting on my grandparents' back porch with my siblings, spitting watermelon seeds into the garden or, even worse, swallowing them and trembling as my older brother and sister spoke of the vine that was probably already growing in my belly. Jacqueline Woodson child sister brother children Reading equals hope times change. Jacqueline Woodson times reading change hope Each book I write is a shout into the silence and a prayer and a plea for change. Jacqueline Woodson silence change prayer book If you have no road map, you have to create your own. Jacqueline Woodson road your own you I have a short attention span, so when one book isn't working out, I just work on another. Jacqueline Woodson short work attention book I can't write about nice, easy topics because that won't change the world. And I do want to change the world - one reader at a time. Jacqueline Woodson change-the-world change time world The idea of feeling isolated is scary to me - to walk through the world alone would be heartbreaking. Jacqueline Woodson alone walk me world Greenville, S.C., in the 1970s is a rolling green dream in my memory now. Jacqueline Woodson memory now green dream A 10-year-old knows a lot. If you think she or he isn't noticing the world around them, you're missing a lot. Jacqueline Woodson think you missing world I write for whoever needs to read it. Jacqueline Woodson whoever read write needs
