Quotes from Barbara Shoup

In a sense, you have to grab your reader by the lapels and say, 'I must tell you this story, or I will die!

Your story must evoke in you a sense of wonder, a voice that whispers to the reader behind the words, Can you believe this? You must also be a little scared of the story on some level. Writing it has to cost you something. At the very least, there must be the possibility that, writing it, you might discover something you don't want to know.

Curiosity is the best antidote to prejudice... Learn to see all humankind in its maddening, glorious complexity.