Ellen Potter Quotes

People think children's books are about teddy bears and little flowers. I realize people sometimes don't know what to do with my books because they say, 'Is it a children's book, and what age group?'

Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn't writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right.

I think that writers of literary fiction would do well to read more books for children.

Writing children's books gives a writer a very strong sense of narrative drive.

My books are just pure escapism for kids.

As a young, ambitious novelist, writing for kids never crossed my mind.

I've always been drawn to writing for young readers. The books that I read growing up remain in my mind very strongly.

Fiction, even when it's grim and hard, is fun.

With my writing, I can still play inside an enchanted castle or live inside an old fort. I can run from ghosts or ride dolphins any day of the week.

You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.

We had a few non-fiction books at home, but my dad was of the opinion that fiction was a complete and utter waste of time because it wasn't real - so what was the point of reading it?

I loved fantasy role play.

I had a long period of writing what I think of as 'save the world' novels. 'Fledgling' was a chance to play.

Children will often write, 'We love your books because there are no adults in them.'

At university - when I was supposed to be studying biochemistry - I had tried to write a children's book about a boy and a wolf cub, and there was a paragraph in that which was from the wolf's point of view.

I've never written a children's book, but when people meet me for the first time and I say I write books, they invariably reply, 'Children's books?' Maybe it's something about my face.

I don't see one as bring better or more literate than the other and there's a real buzz to not only writing about a character I love like Superman, but also writing something that kids can enjoy.

I find writing for children much easier. I don't mean it's less demanding - you've got to have a talent for it and you've got to work very hard - but you don't have to pull your guts out and lay them on the line in quite the same way as when you're writing for adults.

What 'Twilight' gave me was years to consider how I wanted to work otherwise.

I was lucky enough to be a child during the renaissance of Australian children's literature, when people like Ivan Southall, Colin Thiele, Lilith Norman and Wrightson were pumping out hugely inspiring stuff.

Novelists have always had complete freedom to pretty much tell their story any way they saw fit. And that's what I'm trying to do.

I am not interested in slice of life, what I want is a slice of the imagination.

I would love to write more children's books. There is such a high standard out there for children's books; there are really amazing writers. It is a fantastic creative outlet and such an amazing teaching tool. The thing I love about kids, too, is it is so imaginative and poetic.

Obviously people read the books in order to be entertained.

I started writing books for children because I could illustrate them myself and because, in my innocence, I thought they'd be easier.