Judy Blume Quotations

I never thought about writing. I was married young, I was still in college, as we did then, and I had two babies before I was 25, and I loved them, and I loved taking care of them, but I was a little bit cuckoo, staying at home and not having a creative outlet.

What I remember when I started to write was how I couldn't wait to get up in the morning to get to my characters.

Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won't have as much censorship because we won't have as much fear.

The best books come from someplace inside. You don't write because you want to, but because you have to.

I am a big defender of 'Harry Potter,' and I think any book that gets kids to read are books that we should cherish, we should be thankful for them.

When I was growing up, I dreamed about becoming a cowgirl, a detective, a spy, a great actress, or a ballerina. Not a dentist, like my father, or a homemaker, like my mother - and certainly not a writer, although I always loved to read.

I wanted to write what I remembered to be true.

I hate first drafts, and it never gets easier. People always wonder what kind of superhero power they'd like to have. I wanted the ability for someone to just open up my brain and take out the entire first draft and lay it down in front of me so I can just focus on the second, third and fourth drafts.

It's all about your determination, I think, as much as anything. There are a lot of people with talent, but it's that determination.

I loved to read, and I think any child who loves to read will read anything, including the back of the cereal box, which I did every morning.

The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.

A good writer is always a people watcher.

When I started to write, it was the '70s, and throughout that decade, we didn't have any problems with book challenges or censorship.

When I'm writing a book, you can't think about your audience. You're going to be in big trouble if you think about it. You're got to write from deep inside.

I meet people on the street or at book signings and they tend to treat me as if they know me, as if we're connected. It's great.

I'm an e-mail junkie though I'm trying to read my in-box only twice a day and to answer all at once.

I'm really quite bad at coming up with plot ideas. I like to create characters and just see what will happen to them when I let them loose!

I think people who write for kids, we have that ability to go back into our own lives.

Ideas seem to come from everywhere - my life, everything I see, hear, and read, and most of all, from my imagination. I have a lot of imagination.

It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written.

I always have trouble with titles for my books. I usually have no title until the editor has to present the book and calls me frantically, 'Judy, we need a title.

I didn't know anything about writers. It never occurred to me they were regular people and that I could grow up to become one, even though I loved to make up stories inside my head.

The child from nine to 12 interests me very much. And so, those were the years that I like to write about, when I'm writing.

The creative process; I enjoy thinking up the stories and situations for my books.

One of my concerns is that writers will begin to feel the censor on their backs, and we won't get their very best. Instead their fear, or the fear imposed by the publisher, will limit them. When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor, or the reviewer, or anyone but my characters and their story.

My only advice is to stay aware, listen carefully and yell for help if you need it.

Those who would challenge or ban a book have to find out about it first,

You'd think he was the first person to ever lose a tooth!

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. I just told my mother I want a bra. Please help me grow God. You know where. I want to be like everyone else.

Don't buy anything controversial. We don't want any trouble in our community.

How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives.

Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.

I try to create new characters in each book I write. That's what makes writing fun and interesting for me.

My only advice is to stay aware, listen carefully, and yell for help if you need it.

our finger prints dont fade from the lives we touch

Believe in yourself and you can achieve greatness in your life.

I love movies, and theater, and kayaking, reading, biking, walking - oh, and dancing. I love to dance!

Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.

The truth will make you odd.

I stop and think before I start a new book and ask myself do I really want to spend the next year or two or three with these characters because if I don't, then I shouldn't be writing about them.

We are friends for life. When we’re together the years fall away. Isn’t that what matters? To have someone who can remember with you? To have someone who remembers how far you’ve come?

Librarians save lives by handing the right book at the right time to a kid in need.

A library is where you meet fascinating characters you never forget.

I kept a diary as a teenager but I never would have shared it with anyone. Still, I think it's very good practice to write things down.

Censors never go after books unless kids already like them. I don’t even think they know to go after books until they know that children are interested in reading this book, therefore there must be something in it that’s wrong.

I wanted to tell him that I will never be sorry for loving him. That in a way I still do - that maybe I always will. I'll never regret one single thing we did together because what we had was very special. Maybe if we were ten years older it would have worked out differently. Maybe. I think it's just that I'm not ready for forever.

[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.

I've heard that some authors do dream their books and I would love that if it happened to me, but so far it hasn't. Sometimes I'll get a good idea during the night and if I don't write it down, I won't remember it the next morning.

Things change…things happen…things you can’t even imagine when you’re young and full of hope.

Some characters become your friends for life. That's how it was for me with Betsy-Tacy.

It's not so much that I like him as a person God, but as a boy he's very handsome.

Little kids are amazing. They seem able to adjust to anything.

Fear is often disguised as moral outrage.

The best books come from someplace deep inside.... Become emotionally involved. If you don't care about your characters, your readers won't either.

Sometimes I'll say, "I wrote that book," and the person will look at you as if you're really strange. One time that happened to my daughter on a plane. She was sitting next to a girl who was reading one of my books and my daughter said, "My mother wrote that book." And the girl started to quiz my daughter, asking her all sorts of questions, like what are the names of Judy's children and where did she grow up. My daughter thought it was so funny.

I'm a rewriter. That's the part I like best . . . once I have a pile of paper to work with, it's like having the pieces of a puzzle. I just have to put the pieces together to make a picture.

Something will be offensive to someone in every book, so you've got to fight it.

I have to go with what comes naturally to me. Fantasy isn't my thing. I did enjoy the Oz books when I was growing up and certainly my grandson and I read Harry Potter together. You write what you can as well as you can.

We must, we must, we must increase our bust.

Concentrate on how good if feels to be alive. No matter what. Just to see the color of the sky, just to smell the air, and feel the wind in your face

Do not let anyone discourage you. If they try: get determined, not depressed.

I love picture books. I think some of the best people in children's books are the ones who create their own picture books. I wish I could say I'm one of them, but I'm not.

My mother was my greatest fan.

Its all about your determination, I think, as much as anything. There are a lot of people with talent, but its that determination.

In this age of censorship, I mourn the loss of books that will never be written, I mourn the voices that will be silenced-writers' voices, teachers' voices, students' voices-and all because of fear.

I don't believe in writer's block. There are good days when you're writing and less good days. I've learned that if it's not happening to walk away and return later. I doodle a lot and often get my best ideas with a pencil in my hand while I'm doodling. The problem is, sometimes I lose my doodles and that's bad!

My characters live inside my head for a long time before I actually start a book. They become so real to me, I talk about them at the dinner table as if they are real. Some people consider this weird. But my family understands.

But if you aren't any religion, how are you going to know if you should join the Y or the Jewish Community Center?

Something awful happens to a person who grows up as a creative kid and suddenly finds no creative outlet as an adult.

I'm a more skilled writer now, but after 23 books it's harder to be fresh and that's really important to me. I don't want to write the same thing over and over again.

Moms come up to me at book signings.

My insides still turn over when he looks at me that certain way.

Suppose there aren't any more A + days once you get to be twelve? Wouldn't that be something! To spend the rest of your life looking for an A + day and not finding it.

I love you, Michael Wagner.” “Forever?” he asked. “Forever,” I said.

She wondered if all the firsts in her life would go by so quickly, and be forgotten just as quickly.

You've never been in love," she said. "You don't understand." "If being in love means giving up your freedom, not to mention your opportunities," Caitlin said, "Then I haven't missed anything.

you can't deny they ever happened. You can't deny you ever loved them, love them still, even if loving them causes you pain

I'm a people person. I never get tired of watching people, especially young people.

Like my mother said, you can't go back to holding hands

Suddenly question number four popped into my mind. Have you thought about how this relationship will end?

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.

Another thing all writers have in common is we're all observers. We pay attention to detail.

I want you to know it was no big deal...those movies showing women screaming in labor are plain bullshit....there's nothing to it...you just push and push and finally the baby pops out...to tell you the truth I don't even rember that much about it except there was a very nice guy standing over me and every time a strong contraction started he gave me a whiff of gas...

I can't let safety and security become the focus of my life.

some changes happen deep down inside of you. And the truth is, only you know about them. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

My husband says I have too much imagination, but I don't think a writer can have too much imagination!

Without peanut butter, I might starve.

Why are we acting as if we're angry. Are we angry?

I made promises to you that I'm not sure I can keep. None of it has anything to do with you. It's just that I don't know what to do now. You must be thinking what a rotten person I am. Well, believe me, I'm thinking the same thing. I don't know how this happened or why. Maybe I can get over it. Do you think you can wait—because I don't want you to stop loving me. I keep remembering us and how it was. I don't want to hurt you … not ever …

Ideas come from everywhere - they come from what you see and hear and imagine.

I like one hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain and things that are pink. I hate pimples, baked potatoes, when my mother's mad, and religious holidays.

What's the point of thinking about how it's going to end when it's just the beginning?

You think everything can be magically cured with vitamins?” “Everything but us.

I like to read fiction best and I like to write fiction, too.

Caitlyn isn't someone to get over. She's someone to come to terms with, the way you have to come to terms with your parents, your siblings. You can't deny they ever happened. You can't deny you ever loved them, love them still, even if loving them causes you pain.

I wanted to write honest books for kids because I didn't have those when I was a kid.

A lot of people worry much too much about what their children are reading... If a child picks up a book and reads something she has a question about, if she can go to her parents, great. Or else they will read right over it. It won't mean a thing. They are very good, I think, at monitoring what makes them feel uncomfortable. If something makes them feel uncomfortable they will put it down.

Never give up! And remember, determination is as important as talent.

Books opened up a whole new world to me. Through them I discovered new ideas, traveled to new places, and met new people. Books helped me learn to understand other people and they taught me a lot about myself. ... Some books you never forget. Some characters become your friends for life.

In a New York Post interview, Judy Blume, author of young-adult fiction, gave this advice on getting your kids to read: "Moms come up to me at book signings and describe how they're telling their daughters, 'These were my favorite books,'?" she says. "I say, 'Quit it! That's the biggest turnoff!'"You want to get them to read them, leave them around the house and every so often, say, 'You're not ready to read this yet.'