Theodora Goss Quotes

Accept criticism. If you do not offer your work for criticism and accept that criticism, meaning give it serious thought and attention, then you will never improve.

What writers do - everything comes from inside, from experiences of the world that we have digested. And then we turn it into silk, or stories.

I think part of my purpose in this life is to talk about magic, and to make it.

If you’re a writer, your first duty, a duty you owe to yourself and your readers, and to your writing itself, is to become wonderful. To become the best writer you can possibly be.

The only thing worth thinking about, when I write a story, is whether I like it, whether I want to write it, whether it excites me.

I'm working on a poetry collection for Papaveria Press . It fills me with trepidation - poetry is something I'm much more self-conscious about than prose.

Nature inspires me continually. Today, I can look out my window and see the entire world covered with snow. It's like Narnia under the White Witch.

If you believe you have a voice and something to say, chances are you do, and the world needs you to do whatever you're drawn to do. So you should do it.

Believe in the importance of your art.

Writing is an art like other arts. Dancers don't dance every once in a while. Musicians don't stop practicing. They are dedicated to what they do.

It's very difficult to put in the work unless you believe that what you're doing is significant in some way.

Sometimes you have to follow your uncommon sense.

If you look at the natural world, really look at it, it's always magical.

The book itself [The Thorn and The Blossom] is bound accordion-style: it has no spine, so it can open in either direction, and it's in a slipcase.

It happened the way I come up with any story, which is that I took elements of my own life and put them into the story, but in a very mixed-up way.

I had a short story collection come out in 2006, and then I couldn't work on large projects for a long time because I was finishing my doctoral degree.

Now that The Thorn and the Blossom has come out and I'm done with my doctoral degree (yes, I'm finally Dr. Goss), I'm turning to longer projects.

Art inspires me. Looking at art in a museum, listening to music, reading the works of other writers.

Of course, with Papaveria Press, you know the book itself is going to be beautiful.

Writers: believe! And go do the work . . .

That sort of effort has to come not only from the writer but also from a really innovative publisher like Quirk.

So much work went into this book [ "The Thorn & The Blossom"] - you can probably tell from looking at the art and overall design.

I put that part of myself into both Brendan and Evelyn [from The Thorn and the Blossom] - as well as some of my own anxieties about the academic life!

I see so many talented writers who have difficulties with that. And if you don't believe it's important, you won't put in the work you need to.

It's appropriate to have magic in a love story, because magic is a sort of metaphor for what love feels like? When we fall in love, the world feels magical to us. It becomes an enchanted place.

I've heard some readers saying they wished the story was longer, and I completely understand that desire - we all like to sink into a nice, long novel.

I actually pushed the boundaries on how long a book like this [The Thorn and the Blossom] can be. The original plan called for two 7,500 word stories, and I turned in two 10,000 word stories.

I loved writing something I'd never written before, and I wanted to write not just about "true love" but also a human relationship.

The appeal of writing a romance was that I'd never written one before the The Thorn and The Blossom.

Fairy tales are another kind of Bible, for those who know how to read them.

Ah, well, when you explain it like that, it seems obvious, " said Mudge. "Of course, it always seems obvious once it's been explained.