Gail Carson Levine Quotes

I'm not thinking when I'm writing, 'How's this going to read?' Or, 'What percentage of the audience is going to stay with me?' The thing itself is what gives me pleasure. Sometimes stuff just falls onto the page so beautifully and happily that it's deeply satisfying. It's selfish!

I think anyone who has, you know, is in any sort of artistic pursuit, kind of goes up and down with the way they feel about their work. And I, for the most part, am pretty happy person. But, yeah. I go through definite periods of time where I'm not funny. I'm not good. I'm - I don't feel original.

I love to take, process and share photos - it fills me up.

I was fortunate enough to write about things I really love, and love can be very analytic.

Finding ballet gave me passion for the first time in my life. I was always very shy and just wanted to fit in; I never daydreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But dancing gave me a connection to my personality that made me grow.

When you've learned to love yourself, you get all the things that come with that. Friends, passion, success.

I'm often just writing just to write. I'm not writing with...If I write, like, sitting down with a goal in mind, it's always, like, the worst. It turns into a ska song even if I'm trying to write like a horror movie sound track or something.

Left to it's own devices, writing is like weather. It has a drama, a form, a force to it that shapes the day. Just as good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche. There is something very right about simply letting yourself write. And the way to do that is to begin, to begin where you are.

I love music, and I love acting, so if I can just live and be able to do those two things, I can be happy, you know?

It's always struck me as unfair that writing has so little sensation when it's going well.

As far as writing, it's grown because I've really grown comfortable with who I am.

I just want girls to realize, everybody's born a way for a reason, and you are who you are. You should just be yourself at all times. The only way you're going to get through life, happily, is being yourself.

Confidence, as a teenager? Because I knew what I loved. I loved to read; I loved to listen to music; and I loved cats. Those three things. So, even though I was an only kid, I could be happy because I knew what I loved.

Writing is challenging work because it's so easy to get consumed with how it's going, what's going to happen to it, who's going to like or not like it. You want to get all of that stuff out of your head and just let the work flow.

I don't think you can write according to a set of rules and laws; every writer is so different.

I made a decision when I started writing 'All is Song' to take the compliments I had for 'The Wilderness' and try to be confident and not overwhelmed by it.

I write what I'm interested in.

Once you figure out who you are and what you love about yourself, I think it all kinda falls into place.

I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write.

Every bit of me is devoted to love and art. And I aspire to try to be a teacher to my young fans who feel just like I felt when I was younger. I just felt like a freak. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm trying to liberate them, I want to free them of their fears and make them feel that they can make their own space in the world.

If you really want to tell stories, do it and don't be dissuaded.

I trust my hand. If I go into a space with a roll of paper, I can make a work, some kind of work, and feel pretty satisfied.

I write the poems first, with only a few exceptions for odd reasons, where I'm given the illustration first.

I am what I do, and that's partly why I don't want to give up singing. But when I can't sing well, I will.

I'm so comfortable and happy with the woman that I am.