Latest Sarah Dessen Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• I just can't ever be a free spirit and just relax. When it comes to work, this is good. I'm very disciplined, which with writing is often half the battle, or more. But it also means that if I want to, say, play hooky and chocolate and watch Bravo all afternoon, I feel horribly guilty. I wish I could find a nice balance.

  Sarah Dessen

  Nice, Mean, Writing

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• I feel like Twitter was tailor-made for me, because I can do short spurts all day long. I loved my blog, but doing daily, then thrice weekly entries was really time consuming. 140 characters is perfect.

  Sarah Dessen

  Character, Perfect, Long

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• I just have to be super strong when it comes to my work time. Shut the browser, ignore the email alerts, and just WRITE.

  Sarah Dessen

  Strong, Writing, Email

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• I have SO many books I didn't sell. Some my agent rejected outright, others made it all the way to my editor to be turned away. Not everything is a winner, which is tough when you've devoted eight or nine months of your life to something.

  Sarah Dessen

  Book, Editors, Eight

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• My agent is so totally honest, which is just what every writer needs. She won't let me sell a crappy book, even if I want to.

  Sarah Dessen

  Book, Want, Needs

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• Editing is hard but nowhere NEAR as tough as facing that blank page and blinking cursor each day. You're all alone and no one else can do it. At least with editing you have someone in the trench with you.

  Sarah Dessen

  Editing, Each Day, Pages

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• I think I'm way too much of a control freak to co-author anything with anyone. I have a hard enough time writing with myself! I admire people that can do it, but it's not for me.

  Sarah Dessen

  Writing, Thinking, People

  Source: blogs.idahostatesman.com

• I find that the more I depend on real life, the less interesting the story is. It's much more common for me to take something that almost-happened, or I wish had happened, and then follow that possibility.

  Sarah Dessen

  Real, Interesting, Wish

  Interview with Claire Zulkey, www.wbez.org. January 13, 2012.

• I always say that teenagers are the first to know if you're pandering to them.

  Sarah Dessen

  Teenager, Firsts, Knows

  "WD Interview Bonus Q&A: Sarah Dessen". Writer's Digest Interview, www.writersdigest.com. June 3, 2011.

• I was actually pretty miserable in high school. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And when it finally was, I remember sitting at graduation with all these classmates getting nostalgic and emotional already and all I could think was, "Get me out of here. I never want to see you people again." So it's ironic that I spend half my day putting myself back there by choice [while writing].

  Sarah Dessen

  Writing, School, Emotional

  Source: blogs.idahostatesman.com

• I'm incredibly flattered when people tell me that my books helped them through high school. Because of my own experience, the thought that something I wrote might help someone who felt the way I did when I was a teen...that's huge. It awes me.

  Sarah Dessen

  Book, School, People

  Source: blogs.idahostatesman.com

• I think as a writer one of the benefits is that you can put things that you're interested in into your books. I always have put a lot of food and restaurants because I was a waitress and I love to eat.

  Sarah Dessen

  Book, Thinking, Benefits

• I was actually kind of a hot mess in high school. I did a lot of things in high school I'm not proud of. I wasn't a good student and I wasn't particularly a good daughter. I wasn't very engaged.

  Sarah Dessen

  Daughter, School, Hot

  "Sarah Dessen Interview + Giveaway". Interview with Heidi Zweifel, yabibliophile.com. April 16, 2015.

• I used to worry I was entirely uninteresting, but the truth is I think if my life was more exciting I'd never have any time to write.

  Sarah Dessen

  Writing, Thinking, Worry

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• I honestly don't have many creative outlets. I'm not crafty - although motherhood has forced me to try to be - and I can only draw trees, beaches, and clouds. I'm a so-so cook except for deviled eggs. Writing has always been the one thing I feel that I am pretty good at doing. But it's enough, thank goodness.

  Sarah Dessen

  Beach, Writing, Motherhood

  "Goodreads YA Interview - Sarah Dessen". Goodreads Interview, www.goodreads.com. May 2015.

• I think whenever a writer is really enjoying themselves and liking what they are doing, that shows on the page.

  Sarah Dessen

  Thinking, Pages, Enjoy

  "Goodreads YA Interview - Sarah Dessen". Goodreads Interview, www.goodreads.com. May 2015.

• I think having a good agent is key. I've been with mine for ten years now, and she's very honest with me. There are a lot of times I've sent her books that were not so good because I was tired of writing, or panicked about money, and she's told me flat out, "You don't want this to be your next book. Trust me."

  Sarah Dessen

  Book, Writing, Tired

  Source: cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com

• I don't talk about my books while I'm writing them: not even my husband knows what a novel's about until it's done.

  Sarah Dessen

  Husband, Book, Writing

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• I've found in my own life that if my writing isn't going well, not much else will. It is the one constant, the key to everything else.

  Sarah Dessen

  Writing, Keys, Found

• I think the most important thing is just to write. It sounds so simple, but sometimes it's not. You can get so distracted - -by having to work other jobs, or what other people have to say about your writing - -but the one thing that really matters is that you just keep going, especially when you're working on a novel. It's so easy to get discouraged and give up.

  Sarah Dessen

  Jobs, Giving Up, Writing

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• Teaching was great for me, because I got to show people how writing can really change the way you see not only yourself but the world.

  Sarah Dessen

  Teaching, Writing, People

• I think if you're going to show a true representation of any one life, it can't be about any one thing. I try to see more of a full picture, with the romance just a single part.

  Sarah Dessen

  Thinking, Romance, Trying

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• It's always been hard to call myself a writer. I think a part of me still thinks it's too good to be true.

  Sarah Dessen

  Thinking, Too Good To Be True, Being True

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• When I was in high school, I was always really envious of those girls who seemed to have everything: the perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect boyfriend, perfect life. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that nobody's life is perfect, and that those girls probably had a lot of the same problems I did.

  Sarah Dessen

  Girl, School, Hair

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.

• In school, writing was the only thing that really came naturally to me, but it wasn't until college that I realized that I could do it for more than just fun.

  Sarah Dessen

  Fun, Writing, School

  "Author Interview: Sarah Dessen on Just Listen". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. December 12, 2006.