“There is nothing more life-affirming, writer-validating than having your audience, your people, the ones who look like you, the ones who have lived a similar experience, crack up laughing, wipe a tear from their eye, or elbow the person next to them in a “hey, that’s us” kind of way.” …
“You learn that writing is about discipline. Not the punitive discipline. Not solitary confinement. Not whips of mea culpa, twisted Catholic guilt. You are not a masochist. A writer’s discipline is about the return. About coming to the page, the computer, even when you have nothing to say, when you …
“Have you ever moved yourself to tears when you write? In a world where our tears may be construed as weakness, or used against us when we call out injustice, the act of crying while writing legitimizes my product and process. When my words move me to cry, I know …
“Along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another-physical beauty. Probably the most destructive ideas in the history of human thought.” —Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
