I recently developed a raging writer crush on Jandy Nelson (whose novel The Sky Is Everywhere should be at the top of your to-read list). On her website, she features several quotes she loves. This one grabbed me by both shoulders and hauled me up to the stratosphere.
So today, all I want to do is share it with you. Please enjoy.
“To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must write dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfume and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories—science fiction or otherwise. Which means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
–Ray Bradbury
Are you feeling deliciously mad now?
- Liz
3 comments:
I heart Ray Bradbury! :)
I worship Ray Bradbury. I regret so few things in life, and one is when I chose to take and fail a Calculus test instead of shaking his hand (and stuttering awkward phrases of adoration like a crazed fan).
If I had a time machine, October of 1994 would be first on my list.
Love this quote, too. Except for the hysteria part. But the sniffing books like perfume? And the dreadful dumb books wrestling the brilliant ones in my head? Yes. Oh yes.
What a great quote! As if I need another excuse to go to the library... :)
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