Marion Dane Bauer quotes:

I used to tiptoe up to my bedroom door and leap into my room in an attempt to surprise my dolls in the midst of some kind of action. Unfortunately, they were always too quick for me. I'm still disappointed about that.

I was an adult before I began to learn that there is a difference between a conversation and an argument.

when you are dealing with art, any kind of art, your pleasure in making it is what matters most.

Writing the opening lines of a story is a bit like starting to ski at the steepest part of a hill. You must have all your skills under control from the first instant.

Never think of revising as fixing something that is wrong. That starts you off in a negative frame of mind. Rather think of it as an opportunity to improve something you already love.

A good friend of mine once said, I have never met a bigot who was a reader as a child.

I have never met a bigot who was a reader as a child. (ix)

Description needs to slide into a story like a snake through grass - silently, almost invisibly, without calling attention to itself. It should enrich every story moment without slowing the action.

my experience as a fiction writer tells me that the deeper I look into myself, the more universal is the experience I find there.

But never in his saddest dreams had he thought he'd spend his last years dusting this enormous old house for no one at all."

another word for talent is obsession.

Human beings are storytelling animals. That's what separates us from other creatures, not just having thumbs or using tools.

I grew up in a small town with a very small library. But the books in the library opened a large place in my heart. It is the place where stories live. And those stories have been informing my days, comforting my nights, and extending possibilities ever since. If that library had not been there, if the books - such as they were - had not been free, my world would be poor, even today.

It is curious how believable I can be when I criticize myself, how unconvincing when I give myself praise.

It is the nature of stories to leave out far more than they include.

Where do storytellers find the wisdom to discover their own stories? From no place more mysterious than their own hearts.

You don't choose your themes; they choose you. The meaning of your stories will rise out of your deepest longings, often out of longings so deep that you haven't admitted them even to yourself. Your convictions, your confusions, your most passionate dreams will be there whenever you begin a story, so you might as well learn to tap into them.