Modesty and candor are necessary to an author in his judgment of his own works, no less are they in the reader. - Sara Fielding

A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it. - Danielle Steel

When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another. - Kate DiCamillo

Wanting to be a writer and not wanting to be rejected is like wanting to be a boxer and not wanting to get punched. - David Barr Kirtley

Stop telling yourself you’re not qualified, not worthy, or not experienced enough. Growth happens when you start doing things you’re not qualified to do. - Steven Bartlett

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them. - Lemony Snicket

It’s a waste of time to tell trailblazers, dreamers, creatives that they’re going the wrong way. We know. That’s the point. We don’t want to go where the current path leads. - Thema Bryant

Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. - Kurt Vonnegut

The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear, then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist. - Steven Pressfield

In my walks, every man I meet is my superior in some way, and in that I learn from him. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

My advice for beginning writers is… learn not to take advice. Look to yourself. Make yourself worthy of trust. - William H Gass

You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page. - Jodi Picoult

The world needs your story in order to be complete. - Anne Jackson

The book that will most change your life is the book you write. - Seth Godin

Thank you for listening to another year of Writing Roots!

​For all forms, writing dialogue is almost like writing music. I pay close attention to rhythms and tones. - Sefi Atta

Engaging in the literary world and discovering what books are out there is always beneficial. Consider the comp hunt both a rite of passage and a learning opportunity—and may the odds be ever in your favor. - Star Wuerdemann

Good writing is good writing. In many ways, it’s the audience and their expectations that define a genre. A reader of literary fiction expects the writing to illuminate the human condition, some aspect of our world and our role in it. A reader of genre fiction likes that, too, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the story. - Rosemary Clement-Moore