Marion Dane Bauer's Blog, page 20

Begin with Knowing

A successful writing career begins with knowing. I’m not talking about knowing the market–What’s in? What’s out? What are the taboos? Where are the holes I might fill?—though knowing the market is certainly useful. What I’m talking about and what is far more important for a successful writing career is knowing ourselves. Not knowing in […]

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Worship

A person will worship something–have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts–but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we […]

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A Hand to Hold

Two weeks ago I talked about why I decided so late in my career to begin working with a literary agent. I went to an agent seeking someone who had knowledge about and access to a wider range of editors than I had yet been exposed to. And once we were underway I discovered, […]

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One of the Great Surprises

One of the great surprises is that humans come to full consciousness precisely by their own contradictions, and making friends with their own mistakes and failings. People who had had no inner struggles are invariably both superficial and uninteresting. Fr. Richard Rohr

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Defenseless

Defenseless under the night Our world in stupor lies; Yet, dotted everywhere, Ironic points of light Flash out wherever the Just Exchange their messages: May I, composed like them Of Eros and of dust, Beleaguered by the same Negation and despair, Show an affirming flame -W.H. Auden

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To Agent or Not to Agent, That is the Question

After writing my first novel for young people, I sought out a literary agent. I knew nothing about the field, and although in those days I could have submitted on my own, I would have been flying blind. So I found an agent and signed up with her. She was well known, personable, responsive, someone […]

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Unbelief vs Belief

Unbelief is as much of a choice as belief is. What makes it in many ways more appealing is that whereas to believe in something requires some measure of understanding and effort, not to believe doesn’t require much of anything at all. Frederick Buechner

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A Numbers Thing

My publishing career began in 1976, forty years ago, and the very roundness of that number—and the fact that I was to be speaking at LoonSong, a retreat for writers in the glorious wilderness of northern Minnesota—has prompted me to take a look back. So drawing from information gathered for that lecture, I’d like to […]

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Indifference!

The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it’sindifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death. –Elie Wiesel

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Forty Years in Children’s Publishing

Forty years! That’s how long it’s been since the publication of my first children’s book, a novel titled Shelter from the Wind. The very roundness of the number prompts to take a look back. What has happened to our industry since 1976? Lots, of course. Far more than I have been privy to from my […]

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