Judy Blume Quotes

A good writer is always a people watcher.

I think my thing is that I try and pick up on things that other people have maybe not picked up on.

Writing in public gives you that access to a junkyard of details all around you.

I tell my writing students that everything is material; just pay attention.

I get my inspiration from looking at the world and paying attention to people and just looking closely. Also from reading. I get so much inspiration from other authors.

In moviemaking, you learn to pay attention to detail, because so much is in the detail. And when you're shooting, you try to be very alert to what's going on, even if you're tired.

When I'm writing, I am concentrating almost wholly on concrete detail: the color a room is painted, the way a drop of water rolls off a wet leaf after a rain.

I think writers are observers and watchers. We always have our ears open and eyes open, so I might see something in everyday life that inspires me. And I think that's probably more than anything else. Everyday life is where I get my inspiration.

Most of our writers tend to be recorders.

Writers are so important.

I love writers. All of my best friends are writers.

Reading is probably what leads most writers to writing.

As a writer, you need a strong sense of self-belief. And when it comes to writing, I've always had that.

Words are the basic tools, if you are a writer.

Writers are the ones who figure out how to put their observations into words.

If you want to write about people, you can make it up. But if you spend time talking to someone and examining what it is you want to write about, you discover a level of detail that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember, and reading even before that. My mom still has stories that I wrote when I was in kindergarten. I was a reader and a re-reader. That's the main reason I became a writer.

The writer should never be ashamed of staring. There is nothing that does not require his attention.

A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

Only a reader can become a writer. Develop a lively intellect and the ability to become interested in anything, no matter how mundane it might seem at first. Look for the story. Develop an eye for detail. Feed your mind and your brain: learn as much as you can about everything you can.

I don't call myself a writer.

If you want to be a writer, write a little bit every day. Pay attention to the world around you. Stories are hiding, waiting everywhere. You just have to open your eyes and your heart.

I worked with several writers at the University of Michigan: Nicholas Delbanco, Peter Ho Davies, Eileen Pollack, Laura Kasischke, and Thomas Lynch, who told me the same thing over and over again: Persist. Read, write, and improve: tell your stories.

I'm clearly not a writer, but I'm always a fan of them.

As a writer, you look for inspiration wherever you can get it.