I’m not much of a quote gal, but in light of all the lovely posts this week from my fellow debs, I thought I might share a few quotes from women whose work I admire.
(Reading recommendation: Because surely you’re familiar with Angelou’s poetry, consider Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, a book of recipes and essays sure to make you laugh and cry.)
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
—Toni Morrison (Reading recommendation: I’ve been working my way through The Origin of Others, and I think that it is an important and worthwhile read for anyone writing or living right now. Everyone should read this book.)
“A word after a word after a word is power.”
—Margaret Atwood (Reading recommendation: With a writer this prolific, it’s hard to pick just one, but I am awfully fond of Oryx and Crake.)
“You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”
—Octavia E. Butler (Reading recommendation: Literally everything. I love Parable of the Sower, but I’ve yet to read something of hers that didn’t blow me out of the water.)
“It didn’t occur to me that my books would be widely read at all, and that enabled me to write anything I wanted to. And even once I realized that they were being read, I still wrote as if I were writing in secret. That’s how one has to write anyway — in secret.”
—Louise Erdrich (Reading recommendation: I CANNOT PICK A FAVORITE THEY ARE ALL MY FAVORITE. READ ALL HER BOOKS.)
Thank you for your time. GO READ.
