I was 12 and read my first romance novel; it was a sweeping desert saga, and I got to the end of it and was like, 'I want to go back and start all over again!' That emotional response to the book and getting to the end of a story you love is what inspires me to write the next book.
Interpretation
Experiencing a strong emotional response to a story can inspire creativity and the desire to create more art.
In this quote, Sylvia Day describes her profound emotional experience after reading her first romance novel at the age of 12. The excitement and longing to relive the story again sparked her passion for writing, illustrating how literature can inspire new creations and the profound impact a great story can have on a person's desire to produce their own narratives.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the power of literature to inspire writers and artists.
We were together because we were addicted to each other. I was never as intoxicated as I was when we were happy together, and I knew it was the same for him. We were putting ourselves through the wringer for those moments of perfection between us, but they were so tenuous that only our stubbornness, determination and love kept us fighting for them.
Take your time, however long the book needs. I've seen a lot of promising careers go into decline because writers succumbed to the pressure to write faster than was comfortable for them or the story.
The No. 1 thing is to write the book that you love and then hope that it finds an audience with the same taste as you. I think I've done that, and that's lucky.
I've learned to allow myself the room to fall in love with what I'm writing.
There are millions of people who think that romance isn't real writing. But the only person who can make you real, make your books real, is you.
Every writer follows a theme, and mine is survival. If you can't figure out what a writer's theme is, look at the books you are attracted to.
My art flatters nobody by imitation; it courts nobody by smoothness, tickles nobody by petiteness... there is no finish in nature.
To elevate the soul, poetry is necessary.
Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.
Of course the illusion of art is to make one believe that great literature is very close to life, but exactly the opposite is true. Life is amorphous, literature is formal.
I have learned as much about writing about my people by listening to blues and jazz and spirituals as I have by reading novels.
When you're a writer, the question people always ask you is, "Where do you get your ideas?" Writers hate this question. It's like asking Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen, "Where do you get your leeches?" You don't get ideas. Ideas get you.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.