Quote of the Week, Writing

Quote of the Week // 43rd Week

by Simply Megan Joy

Quote of the Week - 43rd Week Simply Megan Joy Blog.png

Beverly Cleary, born in 1916, has composed nearly fifty fiction books for children and young adults. Though most commonly known for her “Ramona” series, she has written two other crowd favorites, “Henry Higgins” and “The Mouse and the Motorcycle.” During her long life, Cleary was given The National Book Award, The Newbery Medal, and The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award. Today, at age 101, she has retired from writing, though she still hasn’t lost her good humor. During an interview for her 100th birthday, she was asked if she was excited about her age, to which she replied, “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose!”

After Clearly learned to read in the second grade, she found that she wasn’t interested in many of the books she found at the library. She thought of them as boring and drab. She wanted to read something with character and spunk! Forty years later, she published her first book, one that checked every box of what she would have wanted to read back in grade school. She was determined to write something that would change the options children had when choosing a book to read, and she succeeded!

To every writer; one of the reasons we write is because we want to tell a story, not just any old story, but a different story. We write the books that we want to read, something that is unique, special, and inspiring. Like Beverly says, if you don’t find the story you’re looking for, write it.

This doesn’t just apply to writers. It’s good advice for every musician, filmmaker, artist, and designer. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, create that thing, enjoy it, and share it with others. Sing a new song, shoot a new movie, paint a new picture, or design a new room. We shouldn’t be bound by what others have already created. Make something new yourself and use it for good. If you can dream it up, you can create it!

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Do you write fiction books?

Have you ever realized that you write the books you want to read?

What is your favorite Beverly Cleary book?

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Megan Joy

15 thoughts on “Quote of the Week // 43rd Week”

  1. I love that quote! I do believe it’s something I do while writing, whether I realize it or not. 😉
    I’ve only read the Mouse and the Motercycle series. They were fun!

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  2. My childhood was a long time ago. When I read Beverley’s name it rang a bell. I’m sure I read at least one of her books and I have a vague notion of a book cover in my head. I’ll go research and if I find anything I’ll report back 🙂 Thank you.

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  3. Ok, I found one in Google images when I scrolled down quite a way. I would have got the book from my primary school library in the late 1960’s . I’ve tried to find a way to copy and paste the image but I’ve failed. The book is called ‘Ellen Tebbits’ and features Ellen on the cover with a boy called Otis both posing in a ballet position. There’s probably other books I read too but I’m happy to have found this one. I don’t remember the story unfortunately.

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    1. Oh wow! That’s so cool that you were able to find a picture of the book! I think I remember my mom reading Ellen Tebbits to me when I was little, but I’m not quite sure. It does sound familiar, though. Thanks for telling me about your discoveries! And of course, thanks for reading!
      ~ Megan Joy

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  4. I love this quote! I loved Beverly Cleary’s books growing up. I’m actually taking her advice right now, and I’m currently working on a 1920s mystery with a Wodehousian feel, but with teenage characters instead of adults, because I love P.G. Wodehouse but his characters are much older than I was when I first got into his books! 🙂

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    1. Oooh! A 20s mystery, you say? Sounds exciting! I’ve never read anything by Wodehouse before, but I have heard of him, if that counts as something. 🙂 I would love to read your mystery book WHEN it gets published!
      ~ Megan Joy

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  5. OH, MY GOODNESS, YES!!!! Seriously, the most inspirational place for writing I go is our library, because there are so very few GOOD books there!!!

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    1. Exactly!! I haven’t found a good fiction book at the library in years! I love writing at the library, too. It’s nice and quiet and with headphone, you can easily forget where you are! Which can be embarrassing when someone studying French in the corner is watching you as you emerge from your magical writing world and back into the sad reality, dazed and weary-eyed!
      ~ Megan Joy

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  6. Ramona definitely was something I remember my second grade teacher read ironically, and I enjoyed the books. 🙂 This was really enlightening to me. I’ve started to work on my book again, and this quote speaks dearly to me. ❤ Thanks for sharing Megan!!! Always interesting posts!

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