I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across the kind of emotional and psychological stones that slavery threw at people.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
A workshop is a way of renting an audience, and making sure you're communicating what you think you're communicating. It's so easy as a young writer to think you're been very clear when in fact you haven't.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Religion kept some of my relatives alive, because it was all they had. If they hadn't had some hope of heaven, some companionship in Jesus, they probably would have committed suicide, their lives were so hellish.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Third, for people who aren't doing it already, take classes - they're worthwhile. Workshops or classes - a workshop is where you do actually get feedback on your work, not just something where you go and sit for a day.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
No, I think the future of humanity will be like the past, we'll do what we've always done and there will still be human beings. Granted, there will always be people doing something different and there are a lot of possibilities.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Most of us don't have to worry about being shot of we poke our noses outside. So we are comfortable, but the people I'm writing about are definitely not comfortable, and being shot while they're still inside is a good possibility.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
While Fledging is a different type of book, The Parable series serve as cautionary tales. I wrote the Parable books because of the direction of the country. You can call it save the world fiction, but it clearly doesn't save anything.
quote by Octavia Butler
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!