Some thoughts on writing from Donna Jo Napoli

I’ve been collecting quotes from writers and editors for the past 18 years or so.   In fact, I just delivered a talk at the Michigan SCBWI’s fall conference on Mackinac Island that shared the quotes that I’ve been collecting for the past 18 years.  I had about two pages worth of them from various events in Nebraska, Missouri, France, Arkansas and Michigan.  Each of them has become a part of my writer’s toolbox.  Within a few hours, I had several more from noted author Donna Jo Napoli.  She was one of our headliners.

On first drafts:

“The amorphous blob–that’s the emotion. That’s the blood. Your readers is bloodthirsty.”

On switching from the writer’s hat to the self-editing.

Writers are psychopaths.
Writers are a mess.

Editors are neat.
Editors are tidy.

On carving out time to write:

My kitchen floor was so clean you could eat off of it…for a month!


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One response to “Some thoughts on writing from Donna Jo Napoli”

  1. […] do believe in the power of writing with literary abandon.  Donna Jo Napoli shared some insights on that at a recent conference on Mackinac Island. I believe in the power of the amorphous blob that she […]

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