Literary Birthday – 13 December – Tamora Pierce

Happy Birthday, Tamora Pierce, born 13 December 1954.

Quotes

1. Every now and then I like to do as I’m told, just to confuse people.
2. Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary.
3. The best way to prepare to have ideas when you need them is to listen to and encourage your obsessions.
4. All creative people—not just writers!—expose themselves to as much information, in as many forms, as possible, in the hopes that it will be useful down the road, or even right now. You never know what will spark something new!
5. First, do your advance work: whatever research you might need. You may end up doing more research as you get into your story, but at least do what you need to get started.
6. Don’t let anyone fool you: every writer needs editing. Every writer. Be sensible about criticism, though. Think about everything you’re told, weigh it, decide whether it will improve your work or whether the critic has some need of their own.
7. I distrust any advice that contains the words ‘ought’ or ‘should’.
8. Write what makes you happy. Write what makes you want to write more. Write to please yourself first, because you may be the only audience you have for years and years.
9. Listen to what other people tell you, because there may be something in what they say that’s useful, but learn also to trust in your own instincts about your writing.
10. Write the kind of thing you like to read. Try different kinds of writing, because each new form helps you to see your writing—and what you want to do with it—differently.

Must-Read: Tamora Pierce On How To Deal With Writer’s Block

Tamora Pierce is an American writer of fantasy fiction. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over eighteen novels set in the fantasy realm of Tortall. She is well known for her first book series, The Song of the Lioness, which began with Alanna: The First Adventure. Pierce won the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) in 2013, which recognises one writer and a particular body of work for ‘significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature’.

Source for image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tamora_Pierce.jpg

Elizabeth Mitchell, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

source for some of the quotes.

 by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar