We all learn here by the honorable path of horrible mistakes. Katherine Paterson More Quotes by Katherine Paterson More Quotes From Katherine Paterson I am called to listen to the sound of my own heart -- to write the story within myself that demands to be told at that particular point in my life. And if I do this faithfully, clothing that idea in the flesh of human experience and setting it in a true place, the sound from my heart will resound in the reader's heart. Katherine Paterson heart writing ideas The work reveals the creator - and as our universe in its vastness, its orderliness, its exquisite detail, tells us something of the One who made it, so a work of fiction, for better or worse, will reveal the writer. Katherine Paterson vastness details fiction A friend of mine who writes history books said to me that he thought that the two creatures most to be pitied were the spider and the novelist - their lives hanging by a thread spun out of their own guts. But in some ways I think writers of fiction are the creatures most to be envied, because who else besides the spider is allowed to take that fragile thread and weave it into a pattern? What a gift of grace to be able to take the chaos from within and from it to create some semblance of order. Katherine Paterson writing book thinking Nothing smelled so good or danced so well as a birch fire. Katherine Paterson wells fire We humans have had from time unknown the compulsion to name things and thus to be able to deal with them. The name we give to something shapes our attitude toward it. And in ancient thought the name itself has power, so that to know someone's name is to have a certain power over him. And in some societies, as you know, there was a public name and a real or secret name, which would not be revealed to others. Katherine Paterson real names attitude a novel is not born of a single idea. The stories I've tried to write from one idea, no matter how terrific an idea, have sputtered out and died by chapter three. For me, novels have invariably come from a complex of ideas that in the beginning seemed to bear no relation to each other, but in the unconscious began mysteriously to merge and grow. Ideas for a novel are like the strong guy lines of a spider web. Without them the silken web cannot be spun. Katherine Paterson strong writing ideas Crazy people who are judged to be harmless are allowed an enormous amount of freedom ordinary people are denied. Katherine Paterson crazy ordinary people The thing I have learned through the years is that one idea 'doth' not a novel make. A novel must be several seemingly unrelated ideas that somehow magically come together to create the fabric of the story. Katherine Paterson together years ideas You don't have to fight dragons to write books. You just have to live deeply the life you've been given. Katherine Paterson fighting writing book the reason God made February short a few days was because he knew that by the time people came to the end of it they would die if they had to stand one more blasted day. Katherine Paterson february reason people He [an earnest young reporter] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be art, the object of children's books is to whip the little rascals into shape. Katherine Paterson book children art If we marvel at the artist who has written a great book, we must marvel more at those people whose lives are works of art and who don't even know it, who wouldn't believe it if they were told. However hard work good writing may be, it is easier than good living. Katherine Paterson believe book art A great novel is a kind of conversion experience. We come away from it changed. Katherine Paterson changed kind book There are few things, apparently, more helpful to a writer than having once been a weird little kid. Katherine Paterson helpful littles kids It seems to me that there are two great enemies of peace - fear and selfishness. Katherine Paterson war two enemy Some folks are natural born kickers. They can always find a way to turn disaster into butter. Katherine Paterson kickers natural way What a gift of grace to be able to take the chaos from within and from it create some semblance of order. Katherine Paterson able grace order I think, she began quietly, I think we want... not just bread for our bellies. We want more than only bread. We want food for our hearts, our souls. We want- how to say it? We want, you know- Puccini music.... we want for our beautiful children some beauty. She leaned over and kissed the curl on her finger. We want roses. Katherine Paterson heart beautiful children Our fundamental task as human beings is to seek out connections-to exercise our imaginations. Katherine Paterson imagination humanity exercise I have been mocked by beauty, too. But it was the beauty which cost me nothing that in the end turned upon me. Katherine Paterson has-beens cost ends
