To write something, you have to risk making a fool of yourself.
Interpretation
Writing requires vulnerability and the willingness to embrace criticism.
This quote by Anne Rice highlights the inherent risk in the act of creativity, particularly writing. To express oneself through words, one must be prepared to face potential ridicule or judgment, yet this willingness to take a risk is what leads to genuine expression and artistic authenticity.
In practice
This quote is perfect for motivating writers during a workshop.
From my stone pillow I have dreamed dreams of the mortal world above. I have heard its voices, its new music, as lullabies as I lie in my grave. I have envisioned its fantastical discoveries. I have known its courage in the timeless sanctum of my thoughts. And though it shuts me out with its dazzling forms, I long for one with the strength to roam it fearlessly, to ride the Devil's Road through its heart.
We all suffer under a curse, the curse that we know more than we can endure, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing we can do about the force and the lure of this knowledge.
And so this young one, this young one whom I had so loved, I had to forsake, no matter how broken my heart, no matter how lonely my soul, no matter how bruised my intellect and spirit.
Dear God, help me. Do not forget me on this tiny cinder lost in a galaxy that is lostβa heart no bigger than a speck of dust beating, beating against death, against meaninglessness, against guilt, against sorrow.
The vampires have always been metaphors for me. They've always been vehicles through which I can express things I have felt very, very deeply.
In the very depths of Hell, do not demons love one another?
Burmese authors and artists can play the role that artists everywhere play. They help to mold the outlook of a society - not the whole outlook, and they are not the only ones to mold the outlook of society, but they have an important role to play there.
I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film.
Translation is not original creation - that is what one must remember. In translation, some loss is inevitable.
It's always seemed to me that photography tends to deal with facts whereas film tends to deal with fiction.
From 1968 on, I was pretty much the black, gay SF writer.
There was no such person as Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was an invention of hers. A genius invention that she created, like an author creates a character. She understood photography, and she also understood what makes a great photograph. She related to it as if she were giving a performance. She gave more to the still camera than any actress-any woman- I've ever photographed.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.