Words to write by

Today is the birthday of two of my favorite authors: Louisa May Alcott and Madeline L’Engle.

Madeline said many interesting and important things, but one of my favorite quotes is this one: “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.”

I will try to write today, but I am scheduled to spend most of it speaking. Details tomorrow.

11 Replies to “Words to write by”

  1. I did not know that their birthdays are today! I am very pleased to discover that I share my birthday with them. That’s a nice bit of news.

  2. I had no idea they had the same birthday, that’s so neat. And that’s a great quote, I can’t believe I didn’t have it on my quote list yet!

    Hope the speaking goes/went well!

  3. Aw… a lovely quote from one of my favorite author’s, as posted by one of my favorite authors. 🙂 Good luck with the writing, and the speaking!

  4. Hey Laurie!

    First of all, I want to wish Louisa May and Madeline a happy birthday.

    Now onto the reason why I came here! 😀

    Hi Laurie! We’ve been reading your book Speak in our English 9 class. The rest of the class is still at the beginning of the second marking period, but I finished the book last night because it was sooo good!! And now I’m re-reading it and highlighting all my favorite parts (as you can see, I have no real life). It really shocked me how much Melinda and I are alike. She thinks almost exactly like me, and she’s an artist. Did you like, pick my brain or something? JK! I just found that extremely weird!! Also, like Mel, my parents (especially my dad) don’t really “get” me, so I’m having him read it. By the way, I hope you’re not getting annoyed with my rambling…

    There’s one more thing I wanted to ask you about. I’ve been thinking of writing a novel. I’ve started numerous stories in the past, but after the first few chapters, it all fell apart. They also were very poorly organized, meaning they weren’t. Could you possibaly give me some tips to help me out? Thanks so much!! And I can’t wait to read more of your works!!

    –Wewt

  5. It’s Molly from Levy

    Hey, it’s molly from levy…i met you earlier today and you signed Twisted for me. You asked me to let you know what i thought of it so here i go… I picked it up at about ten this morning i just finished it fifteen minutes ago. The whole day i was reading your book, my teachers yelled at me, my friends thought that i was mad at them because i was so absorbed in it. I felt like i could really identify with Tyler, even though he is a boy. I guess it knd of brings things into perspective for me…it helps me organize the anarchy of my life right now. It was a really powerful book, but i must say, Speak made my cry harder. I have a few questions about it though, you dont have to answer them, maybe you dont want to have them answered, to be open-ended questions…anyway, here they are…I really like the character of hannah, tyler’s sister, how did you create her – did she come to you, or is she loosely based on a good friend you know, perhaps? In the end, what was the choice he made? I think you probably meant for readers to choose what their own right choice was, and i would gamble on being reincarnated…I cant resist a challenge. Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing Speak at nottingham, I think it will be great…thank you so much again ~ molly

  6. “I will try to write today, but I am scheduled to spend most of it speaking. Details tomorrow.”
    You made the 11pm news on channel 9. 🙂

    little quirk

  7. Re: Hey Laurie!

    I think you have the realest life of all!

    Your question is a good one and it deserves a long answer. I will try to make it the focus of my journal entry this weekend.

  8. Re: It’s Molly from Levy

    Thank you, Molly from Levy!

    Hannah was one of those characters who just showed up in my head and started whispering to me. She is not based on anyone I know.

    Yeah – the question about the choice was deliberately left up to the reader.

    I can’t wait to see the play! Thanks so much for making me feel so comfortable yesterday. It was a lot of fun!

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