Marion Dane Bauer Quotes

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

“The power of fiction is that it gives us, as readers, the opportunity to move inside another human being, to look out through that person's eyes, hear with her ears, think with his thoughts, feel with her feelings. It is the only form of art which can accomplish that feat so deeply, so completely. And thus it is the perfect bridge for helping us coming to know the other - the other inside as well as outside ourselves. (x)”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“We writers can use our own longing - and frequently do - without ever having to understand or analyze it. That is why our stories are often wiser than we are.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

“RUNT is my FAVORITE book.It starts out small.Then,it gets exciting in the middle.In the end it settled.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“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.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“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.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“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.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“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.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

“Another word for talent is obsession.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

“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.”

— Marion Dane Bauer

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.

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer

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

— Marion Dane Bauer