Quotes About Inspiration

I even dream about writing. I'm talking seeing words across the page, whole paragraphs.

I was in Siena and decided I wanted to write a story set there. Then I discovered that the original story of Romeo and Juliet was set in Siena. It occurred to me that this was too much of a gift - I had to do it. That's how I ended up writing a parallel story to Romeo and Juliet.

I'm excited about the idea of an act of theatre triggering a parallel creative act of writing.

Find me a first novel that doesn't have parallels with the author's life.

When I was born, I had a birth injury in my second and third vertebrae. It gave me what they called spastic paralysis, which is actually cerebral palsy.

I choose to be inspired by things that have been done well in the past. So, I don't worry about being compared, because I think that does paralyze you.

I became paralyzed as an artist with writer's block.

It's not possible to advise a young writer because every young writer is so different. You might say, 'Read,' but a writer can read too much and be paralyzed. Or, 'Don't read, don't think, just write,' and the result could be a mountain of drivel.

A lot of times, people think 'para' as far as 'paralyzed.' 'Para' means 'alongside,' so the Paralympics are alongside the Olympics on the same courses, the same hills.

President Obama's election has taught us to stop being paralyzed by excuses and given us a floodgate of hope. I'm more daring and going after things that I once thought were not possible.

It's hard to really articulate what the parameters are that make one song parody-able and another song not, but if I can come up with a good enough idea for it, I go for it, and if not, then I have to move on.

You kind of have to celebrate the moment that you get to create something that you love that falls into the parameters of a 3-minute-and-20-second song, to try to be creative inside of those parameters.

When people talk about how parameters can generate really good work, there's no better example than working within a genre in film. That's like the ultimate parameter.

I believe in the paramount importance of entertainment, but I have something to say.

I saw the Clash in '79 at the Paramount in Seattle, and it changed my whole life.

I think creating of any sort, whatever line you're in, is paramount - you can be an architect, you can be a banker, you can be anything - I think that when you create, you're closest to God and yourself.

The whole 'Djesse' project is, like, the paramount example of something that has evolved alongside me creating it. It started as one album, and then I realized that I had too many ideas for just one album.

In my opinion, lyrics are a paramount factor and will always be.

I always have a rough outline, but I'm shocked at how little I actually follow it. Those characters keep doing things that I never expected. I think if I crept up to my keyboard and peeked, they'd be talking about things behind my back. Okay, that's a little paranoid and delusional... but just a little.

Novelists tend to go off at 70, and I'm in a funk about it, I've got myself into a real paranoid funk about it, how the talent dies before the body.

I feed off the fashion world like a parasite.

The best kind of parent you can be is to lead by example.

Now that I'm a parent, I know that my parents were incredibly brave.

Growing up, music was an important part of my childhood. I see it being just as important in my children and all children's growth and development, and in a parent's connection with their children.