Storytelling is our oldest form of remembering the promises we have made to one another and to our various gods, and the promises given in return; it is a way of recording our human emotions and desires and taboos. Jane Yolen More Quotes by Jane Yolen More Quotes From Jane Yolen Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood. Jane Yolen childhood disease literature Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. Jane Yolen athlete writing character Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become. Jane Yolen life-changing book children It's never perfect when I write it down the first time, or the second time, or the fifth time. But it always gets better as I go over it and over it. Jane Yolen get-better perfect writing A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old. Jane Yolen worn-it may book Take a step, breathe in the world, give it out again in story, poem, song, art. Jane Yolen song giving art All writers write about themselves, just as the old storytellers chose to tell stories that spoke to and about themselves. They call it the world, but it is themselves they portray. The world of which they write is like a mirror that reflects the inside of their hearts, often more truly than they know. Jane Yolen mirrors heart writing Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow. Jane Yolen writing-love writing Get up from your desk and wander outside occasionally. To be a good writer one needs to be a good observer, and there isn't a lot to be observed at desk level. Jane Yolen get-up levels needs Ideas are the cheapest part of the writing. They are free. The hard part is what you do with ideas you've gathered. Jane Yolen hard writing ideas I have always been jealous of artists. The smell of the studio, the names of the various tools, the look of a half-finished canvas all shout of creation. What do writers have in comparison? Only the flat paper, the clacketing of the typewriter or the scrape of a pen across a yellow page. And then, when the finished piece is presented, there is a small wonder on one hand, a manuscript smudged with erasures or crossed out lines on the other. The impact of the painting is immediate, the manuscript must unfold slowly through time. Jane Yolen jealous impact artist Language helps develp life as surely as it reflects life. It is a most important part of our human condition. Jane Yolen language important helping If you want to write, you write. Talent is simply not enough. Jane Yolen talent want writing Exercise the writing muscle every day. Jane Yolen muscles exercise writing What is a vow... but the mouth repeating what the heart has already promised? Jane Yolen vow mouths heart The tales of Elfland do not stand or fall on their actuality but on their truthfulness, their speaking to the human condition, the longings we all have for the Faerie Other. Jane Yolen longing tales fall Touch magic. Pass it on. Jane Yolen magic The magical story is not a microscope but a mirror, not a drop of water but a well. It is not simply one thing or two, but a multitude. It is at once both lucid and opaque, it accepts both dark and light, speaks to youth and old age. Jane Yolen light mirrors dark Stories," he'd said, his voice low and almost husky, "we are made up of stories. And even the one's that seem the most like lies can be our deepest hidden truths. Jane Yolen voice stories lying The main plot line is simple: Getting your character to the foot of the tree, getting him up the tree, and then figuring out how to get him down again. Jane Yolen plot-lines simple character
