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Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Kimberly Willis Holt Quotes

My days are filled with writing, reading, and being a mom. Some days, I get to visit schools around the country and talk about what it’s like to be a writer. I often feel like I’m pretending, because it’s still hard for me to believe it when I see someone holding a book that I’ve written.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

When I begin to write a story, I usually know how things will end. It’s the journey toward that point I must discover. The process is sometimes painful, but also exciting.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I was born in a hurricane in Pensacola, Florida… my dad was in the military, so we moved all over the place. But I consider myself a southerner from Louisiana. I’ve lived in Texas for most of my adult life.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Although I sometimes enjoy writing from an adult’s perspective, I feel dedicated to the coming of age story – that part of a young person’s life where he must make a decision that will change his life forever. I still remember what it’s like to be twelve years old.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I always tend to write about outsiders. And what’s been fun for me is, as I travel around and visit schools, is that other kids that feel the same way relate to some of my characters, and so I hope in some way that’s helping them when they want to read about somebody that they can relate to.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I have to re-write a lot. I couldn’t tell you how many drafts I write, but I know I’ve done at least twenty rewrites on each book.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

When I was young, I was very shy and quiet, because we moved all the time. My dad was in the Navy, so we moved every two years.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I’m amazed how the tiniest moments grow into books.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

My favorite book is ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. It is multi-layered, and I see something new in it every time I read it.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

My biggest disappointment is that once I’m finished working on the characters, I really do expect to see them in the flesh one day.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Most of my story ideas come from my childhood. Sometimes they hatch from stories my parents told me, sometimes they come from experiences in my own life, and sometimes they are inspired by mere moments.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

If you’re having trouble finishing a book, it might be that you’re trying to fix it as you go. Just finish the story, no matter how terrible you think that first draft is. Then let it cool off. In other words, don’t look at it for a while. Then you can rewrite it.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I hope the wonder of what happens to my characters never goes away. That yearning keeps me writing.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

If you haven’t taken a writing class, take a writing class. I took every class that was available in my area. I went to conferences inside and outside my area to network with people. That’s how I got my agent. I found my agent through another agent who was at a conference.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

When I was a child, the thing I wanted more than anything was to grow up and live in one house. Since my dad was in the Navy, that wasn’t possible. Instead, I lived in a different home every couple of years.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I wear my pajamas. That’s the thing I love most about writing. I don’t get changed until I actually have to go out of the house. I’ll write and take a late lunch or go to a coffee shop when I get where I can’t stand the four walls anymore.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

One of the reasons I write is to be in other people’s skin.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Although I always loved reading and putting words on paper, I never thought about becoming a writer until I was twelve.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Other writers definitely influence my writing. What encourages me and inspires me is when I read a good book. It makes me want to be a better writer.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

I like the fact that I’m from the South and that I have this rich history behind me. I come from a family of storytellers. They can’t just tell you how someone went to the store. They have to tell you who they saw, what they were wearing, what they said, what they had in their grocery cart.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Sometimes I’ll get a premise, you know, for a book. In fact, I get those quite often. And I don’t commit to it until I really know the voice of that character. It’s almost as if the character is speaking to me.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Even though writing articles relies completely on truth, you still must tell an interesting story. You can’t worry about people knowing who you are and whether or not they want to read your stories.

– Kimberly Willis Holt

Write every day. Make writing a part of your life, but also don’t be afraid of learning from others because I think you can. I still try to think of myself as a beginner because that way I can keep on learning.

– Kimberly Willis Holt