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It's never perfect when I write it down the first time, or the second time, or the fifth time. But it always gets better as I go over it and over it.

Jane Yolen

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Jane Yolen
Age: 85
Born: 1939
Born: February 11
Editor
Novelist
Poet
Science Fiction Writer
Writer
New York City
New York
Jane Hyatt Yolen
Jane Hyatt Yolen Stemple
Jane H. Yolen Stemple
First
Writing
Fifth
Gets
Always
Second
Never
Perfect
Time
Write
Better
Firsts

More quotes by Jane Yolen

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You are a name, not a number. Never forget that name, whatever they tell you here. You will always be Chaya—life—to me.
Jane Yolen
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They [Fairy Tales] are talking about real emotions, telling true stories, through the medium of metaphor. People used to understand metaphor better than I think we do now. But these stories are so potent, they refuse to die.
Jane Yolen
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A book is a wonderful present. Though it may grow worn, it will never grow old.
Jane Yolen
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A child who can love the oddities of a fantasy book cannot possibly be xenophobic as an adult. What is a different color, a different culture, a different tongue for a child who has already mastered Elvish, respected Puddleglums, or fallen under the spell of dark-skinned Ged?
Jane Yolen
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It is the last thing we learn, / listening to the creature world.
Jane Yolen
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I believe that culture begins in the cradle . . .To do without tales and stories and books is to lose humanity's past, is to have no star map for our future.
Jane Yolen
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Ideas are the cheapest part of the writing. They are free. The hard part is what you do with ideas you've gathered.
Jane Yolen
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You write to be read. That is the bottom line.
Jane Yolen
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Aren't hidden doors the most alluring? The old stories point that out surely. Even the greatest heroes and heroines fall under the spell of a locked door.
Jane Yolen
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Write, write, and write some more. Think of writing as a muscle that needs lots of exercise.
Jane Yolen
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Intuition works best when you remember that “tuition” is part of it. You need to have paid ahead of time (ie done your prep work) so as to prepare the ground for intuition.
Jane Yolen
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A shadowless man is a monster, a devil, a thing of evil. A man without a shadow is soulless. A shadow without a man is a pitiable shred. Yet together, light and dark, they make a whole.
Jane Yolen
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Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow.
Jane Yolen
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Touch magic. Pass it on.
Jane Yolen
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Childrens books change lives. Stories pour into the hearts of children and help make them what they become.
Jane Yolen
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Language helps develp life as surely as it reflects life. It is a most important part of our human condition.
Jane Yolen
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Wood may remain twenty years in the water, but it is still not a fish.
Jane Yolen
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Folklore is the perfect second skin. From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world.
Jane Yolen
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Take a step, breathe in the world, give it out again in story, poem, song, art.
Jane Yolen
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Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.
Jane Yolen