Wendelin Van Draanen
Don't even try to talk to me when I'm watching the moon. That's my moon, baby.Collection: Space
I've run my whole life - for more than exercise, for mental health.
There are certain things I believe we need to keep in our emotional arsenal as we navigate through life. Hope is a big one. The more of that we can carry, the better.
What sort of person you grow into should not be achieved by default, and often that's exactly what happens to kids. I see literature as a method of guidance, information, and contemplation, and consider it the greatest compliment possible when a reader tells me that a book of mine really made him/her think.
Writing is work. It takes a lot of contemplation, concentration, and out-and-out sweat. People tend to romanticize it, that somehow your work appears by benefit of some mystical external force. In reality, to be a writer, you have to sit down and write. It's work, and often it's hard work.
My mission as a writer is to give my readers hope to carry with them, and to promote a belief that they can do anything they set their minds to.
Part of my motivation for writing mysteries for young people is that I loved mysteries when I was growing up, and now that I'm on the creative end of things, I'm discovering that they're even more fun to write!
I write early in the morning at the computer, and people think I'm crazy, but I still use my Mac-Classic even though we have a state-of-the-art PC. There are just less distractions with the simpler machine.
I believe in the paramount importance of entertainment, but I have something to say.
You can't be preachy - kids are allergic to messages.
If you are interested in writing, get out and live your life! Do a lot. See a lot. Keep your eyes and ears open. Pay attention to the different ways people speak. Read lots of different kinds of books. And then try writing in different voices and styles - don't be afraid to experiment.
I rewrite my books many times before submitting them, and after my editor takes a look I wind up rewriting some more! It's a good thing I learned at an early age to keep on trying. Stick to it, and eventually you'll get there.
Sometimes I get so caught up in my own problems that I forget how amazing the world is.Collection: Adversity
...Next time you're faced with a choice, do the right thing. It hurts everyone less in the long run.Collection: Running
Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss...." He turned to me. "But every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.Collection: Life
Don't sum up a person based on what you see, or what you don't understand; get to know themCollection: Persons
It's easy to look back and see it, and it's easy to give the advice. But the sad fact is, most people don't look beneath the surface until it's too late.Collection: People
...and I realized that Garrett was right about one thing- I had flipped. Completely.Collection: I Realized
I realize something. That wasn't a finish line for me...This is my new starting line.Collection: Lines
If chaos is a necessary step in the organization of one's universe, then I was well on my way.Collection: Organization
One's character is set at an early age. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life. I hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.Collection: Hate
Turn down a chance to feel magic for fear of a little dirt?Collection: Magic
I wipe away my tears and nod, because the pain in my leg is nothing compare to the one in my heart.Collection: Pain
Somehow the silence seemed to connect us in a way like words never could. - Julianna BakerCollection: Silence
I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet – only science would put them on the same tree.Collection: Mom
I liked it. I liked her. And every time I saw her, she seemed more beautiful. She just seemed to glow. I'm not talking like a hundred-watt bulb; she just had this warmth to her. Maybe it came from climbing that tree. Maybe it came from singing to chickens. Maybe it came from whacking at two-by-fours and dreaming about perpetual motion. I don't know. All I know is that compared to her, Shelly and Miranda seemed so...ordinary.Collection: Beautiful
But in my heart I knew that just like the new grass, I wasn't strong enough yet to be walked onCollection: Strong
A painting is more than the sum of its partsCollection: Logical Reasoning
It's funny how you can think you know someone pretty well, and then something happens or they do something that makes you understand that you didn't really know them at all.Collection: Thinking
My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you're floating. Floating in midair. And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person's eyes. They're connected to yours by some invisible physical force, and they hold you fast while the rest of the world swirls and twirls and falls completely away.Collection: Moving
Was it so much to ask just to be left alone?Collection: Left Alone
Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning can save a whole lot of pain down the road.Collection: Pain
There’s no winning arguments with your parents, so why get all pumped up over them? It is way better to dive down and get out of the way than it is to get clobbered by some parental tidal wave.Collection: Winning
I had Flipped. -Bryce LoskiCollection: Flipped
I'd scale that monster sycamore if I could. Right to the top. And I'd yell her name across the rooftops for the whole world to hear. -BryceCollection: Names
All of a sudden I didn't fit in anywhere. Not at school, not at home...and every time I turned around, another person I'd known forever felt like a stranger to me. Even I felt like a stranger to me.Collection: Home
A million dollars sounds like a lot, I know. Especially when you're young. But you can't let money erode your principles or you'll wind up with nothing.Collection: Book
Okay that’s it. Now I’m torching this. I just need to score a match.Collection: Needs
Girls don’t fight fair. They pull your hair and gauge you and pinch you; then they run off gasping to mommy when you try and defend yourself with a fist. Then you get locked into time out, and for what? No, my friend, the secret is, don’t snap at the bait. Let it dangle. Swim around it. Laugh it off. After a while they’ve given up and try to lure someone else.Collection: Girl
It's experiences in life that give us something to write about, and since good fiction is applied tension, you'll have an arsenal of good material if life hasn't been peachy (and not a whole lot if it has).Collection: Writing
So there I was, with the two hottest girls on campus, having lunch. I was "the man", the envy of every other guy in our school. Buddy, I was miserable." -Bryce LoskiCollection: Girl
Surely, I thought, a few bushes and some dilapidated wood couldn't stop someone's best and brightest blessing! Surely not!Collection: Blessing
Holly, I understand that you are upset because Gemma pulled down your ants, but why did you think pouring motor oil inside her backpack is the way to solve the problem?Collection: Thinking
There's no winning arguments with your parentsCollection: Winning
Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.Collection: Way
You got nothin' to lose but your self-respect.Collection: Self
I'll ride my bike all the stinkin' way to school for the rest of eternity if it means being with her. -BryceCollection: School
I just need some time to get over all those years of having liked himCollection: Years
You want me to be a man,older than you, who goes by the name of Roullard.Collection: Men