Jessica Bell > Quotes

“If music were wind, I would live in a hurricane.”
― Jessica Bell, String Bridge

“Learn the rules, then break them intelligently.”
― Jessica Bell

“I don’t know how to pray,
but I’ve seen them do it
on TV; kneeling by a bed
in nightgowns, hands woven
like secret friends.”
― Jessica Bell, Twisted Velvet Chains

“If your characters write your story, rather than you writing your characters, it's like your dog taking YOU for a walk. Don't let them control you. Take charge and train them to listen to their master.”
― Jessica Bell

“Think of literary fiction as a meal with intricate scents, flavors, and textures that you can’t recognize unless you chew with your eyes closed.”
― Jessica Bell

“Imagine you are the Earth and he is the Sun, that silence is tangible, and the stars are the souls of your previous lives.”
― Jessica Bell, String Bridge

“Writing is my oxygen. Music is my carbon dioxide.”
― Jessica Bell

“You only see what I choose to show you.”
― Jessica Bell

“No matter how entertaining, diverse, concise, or detailed, a writing craft book is, it’s not going to work magic on you, it’s not going to suddenly make you a brilliant writer simply by reading it. You need to use what you read and learn in your own writing. Because that’s when you have those AHA moments. That's when it really sticks.”
― Jessica Bell, Show & Tell in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Telling to Showing

“FLESH

I drop my wedding ring
in holy water.
I hope it repels;
the years
of hate
and hope,
so I can finally relate
to the son we made.”
― Jessica Bell, Fabric

“Most of the time, if you think of the small details, rather than the bigger picture, you’ll avoid adverbs and clichés naturally.”
― Jessica Bell, Writing in a Nutshell: Writing Workshops to Improve Your Craft