Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

  • home
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Anthologies
    • Blue Birds
    • The Burning Season
    • Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine
    • May B.
    • Miraculous
    • Over in the Wetlands
    • A Race Around the World
    • Ride On, Will Cody!
  • Author Visits
  • Virtual Visits
  • Events
  • Teacher Resources
  • Contact
  • Writing One to One

On Writing

11 Comments

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.
– Vladimir Nabakov

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: the writing life

Comments

  1. Kenda Turner says

    August 29, 2011 at 11:44 am

    Yes, that feeling is real, isn’t it? Great quote, thanks for sharing πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  2. Kimberley Griffiths Little says

    August 29, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Wow, LOVE this, Caroline! The words are clamoring, but I’ve been a demon about keeping them invisible. πŸ˜‰

    Reply
  3. Bethany Mattingly says

    August 29, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    πŸ™‚ This is definitely a keeper.

    Reply
  4. Heidi Willis says

    August 29, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    What a great quote! I always consciously think of the blank page as my enemy, but this Nabakov is right: inside myself I stare at that blank page because I know there is something great there, if only I could find it.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  5. Natalie Aguirre says

    August 29, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Great quote. I have focused on revising so much that I haven’t looked at a blank page in a long time. I have to admit I’m a bit nervous. This gives me a different perspective.

    Reply
  6. Caroline Starr Rose says

    August 29, 2011 at 8:51 pm

    Blank pages intimidate me, too. Remembering that words are waiting to come (even though they might not be the words I stick with) helps me see writing as play or an experiment rather than one shot to say something profound.

    Reply
  7. chainedlibrary says

    August 30, 2011 at 2:04 am

    There’s something so comforting about hearing writers’ own struggles. And I think you’re right–we don’t have just one shot. I always think of what I’m writing as a sort of placeholder for the thing I mean to say, which will somehow make it onto the page later, probably when I’m not looking.

    Reply
  8. Caroline Starr Rose says

    August 30, 2011 at 2:58 am

    Rebecca: yes, exactly!

    Reply
  9. Jessie Oliveros says

    August 30, 2011 at 2:59 am

    Those blank pages! Sometimes I just keep them blank because my invisible words are just so pretty.

    Reply
  10. Elana Johnson says

    August 30, 2011 at 6:59 pm

    Yes! This is the best part about drafting. Putting that black ink on the page.

    Reply
  11. Christine Fonseca says

    August 30, 2011 at 11:23 pm

    OMGosh! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that quote. Think I need to use it!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Caroline Starr Rose
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

my books

Subscribe to my newsletter + to receive regular blog posts

categories

  • A Race Around the World
  • authors
  • Blue Birds
  • books and reading
  • classroom connections
  • encouragement
  • faith
  • family
  • historical fiction
  • home
  • Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine
  • May B.
  • Miraculous
  • non-fiction
  • Over in the Wetlands
  • poetry
  • publication
  • Ride On, Will Cody!
  • teaching
  • The Burning Season
  • The Notebook Series
  • the writing life
  • this and that

Copyright © 2023 · Caroline Starr Rose · Site by Design by Insight

I participate in Amazon Services LLC Associates and Bookshop.org, affiliate programs that allow me to make a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting this site!

Sign up for biweekly blog posts + my quarterly author newsletter and receive a printable quote from my novel, Blue Birds.