A Writer's Moment
A look at writing and writers who inspire us.
Popular Posts
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“One of the great joys of life is creativity. Information goes in, gets shuffled about, and comes out in new and intere...
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“There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, ...
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“Librarians and romance writers accomplish one mission better than anyone, including English teachers: we create readers for life - and w...
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A Writer's Moment: 'Property of the imagination' : “The English language is nobody's special property. ...
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A Writer's Moment: 'Information In; Creative Responses Out' : “One of the great joys of life is creativity....
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A Writer's Moment: 'Story ideas surround you' : “I always tell my students, 'If you walk around with your eyes and ears...
Thursday, February 12, 2026
A Writer's Moment: 'The books we should cherish'
'The books we should cherish'
“The
best books come from someplace inside. You don't write because you want to, but
because you have to.” – Judy Blume
Born
in Elizabeth, NJ on this date in 1938, Blume has authored dozens of novels that have tackled sensitive topics and sometimes been
a source of controversy. But there’s little doubt that they resonate with young
people. To date her 30 books - mostly written for teens - have had sales approaching 100 million, translated into 32 languages.
Blume said she hopes her stories
have opened the doors to teens to gain a better understanding of themselves and issues
that surround them. Racism,
divorce, bullying, sexuality, all have all been “on the table” for Blume’s
characters. “Generating discussion,” she said, is her primary goal. She has been recognized as one of the world’s
great “storytellers” who bring kids into the reading world, winning more than
90 literary awards, including three lifetime achievement awards and the American
Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for "significant and
lasting contribution to Young Adult literature.”
“Any
book that gets kids to read are books that we should cherish,” she noted. “We should be thankful for them”
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
A Writer's Moment: 'Listen with both the ear and the eye'
'Listen with both the ear and the eye'
“Read
something of interest every day - something of interest to you, not to your
teacher or your best friend or your minister/rabbi/priest. Comics count. So
does poetry. So do editorials in your school newspaper. Or a biography of a
rock star. Or an instructional manual. Or the Bible.” – Jane Yolen
Born
in New York City on this date in 1939, Yolen was immersed in writing, the daughter of a journalist and public relations
writer. She started her own writing in elementary school and created a
“newspaper” in her Manhattan apartment building while still in junior high, a
time when she also wrote a multi-page essay about New York State’s
manufacturing industry – in rhyme.
In
high school, she won a Scholastic Magazine poetry contest and
edited and wrote for the school newspaper, something she continued at Smith
College. There, she also wrote a book of poetry, was president of
the Press Board, and penned song lyrics for theater productions in which she
was involved. On her 21st birthday, she sold
her first book (nonfiction) about female pirates titled Pirates in
Petticoats. “After that,“ she said, “I was a book writer for
good.”
Yolen has authored or edited some 400 books and short stories, her best-known being The Devil's Arithmetic, a Holocaust novella; the Nebula
Award-winning short story Sister Emily's Lightship; a
novelette Lost Girls; and her children’s books Owl Moon, The
Emperor and the Kite, and “Commander Toad” series. She reads everything aloud, no matter whether a novel, an essay, or a children’s
picture book, and does the same when creating her own works.
“I
believe the eye and ear are different ‘listeners’,” she
explained. “So as writers, we have to please both.”
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
A Writer's Moment: 'It's an unusual quantity of a usual quality'
'It's an unusual quantity of a usual quality'
“I
have never been bored an hour in my life. I get up every morning wondering what
new strange glamorous thing is going to happen and it happens at fairly regular
intervals.” – William Allen White
Born
in Emporia, Kansas on this date in 1868, White became America’s most renowned
small town newspaper editor. Along the way, he joined with Theodore
Roosevelt to become a leader of the “Progressive” movement, won two Pulitzer
Prizes and became a best-selling author.
His Emporia Gazette became the most famous “small town” newspaper
in America and Emporia a “must stop” place for political leaders and celebrities.
White
became a key character in my novel And The Wind Whispered after I
learned that he traveled to the Black Hills to spend time in Hot Springs, the
community in which my book is set. I was struck by how that
trip – and his meeting there with Roosevelt – may have had some influence on
his journalism and political thought. He felt Roosevelt embodied
America and was greatness personified. “Greatness, generally
speaking,” he said, “is an unusual quantity of a usual quality grafted upon a
common man.”
As he neared death in 1944, White wrote how grateful he was to have lived and worked in America, and he said he looked forward to every day regardless of what it might bring.
“I
am not afraid of tomorrow,” he said, “for I have seen yesterday, and I love
today!”