Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" My problem is never ideas. I've got more than I'll ever have time to write. It's all about how many I can get to, and which ones readers want to see the most. "
Rick Riordan
Ideas
Problem
See
Related Quotes:
" There are days when I'll write for 15 minutes and have to give up and move around, and I'll write another paragraph and give up again. On other days I get intensely - focused on the process, sit down at 8 A.M. and won't get up until 8 P.M. "
Rick Riordan
Down
Process
Days
" I think anytime you're writing to the middle grades, you're writing to young readers who are trapped in a number of ways between two worlds: between childhood and adulthood, between their friends and their parents. "
Rick Riordan
Think
Writing
You
" I tend to think of a myth and then explore how it would play out if it were happening in the modern-day world. I modify all the myths I use, but I stick very closely to their structure - it is the hidden teacher in me. "
Rick Riordan
Me
Hidden
World
" I'm a teacher still, but with a much larger classroom. "
Rick Riordan
Still
Classroom
Larger
" I go back and research, say, every reference to the Gorgons, and I find what the classical writers said about them and it's so much richer than you might get in an average Greek mythology text. I feel like an archaeologist - I'm dusting off these things that people have not seen for thousands of years and bringing them into the modern world. "
Rick Riordan
People
Research
Say
" I wrote for 10 years before I even started the 'Percy Jackson' series. "
Rick Riordan
Started
Wrote
Years
" Because I am kind of distracted, I don't tend to sit at my desk 9 to 5. It can be two hours a day, or, when I'm in the final editing stages, it can be 14 hours a day. "
Rick Riordan
Two
Kind
I Am
" I think that kids have a greater capacity for processing things than we give them credit for. "
Rick Riordan
Credit
Think
Things
" You know, how much order is good? And when does order become too restrictive? Is a little bit of chaos okay, or is chaos always an evil force? I mean, these are questions that any kid who's ever been in a school cafeteria can relate to. "
Rick Riordan
Good
Know
School
" Every child is different. I think it's important that we don't have maybe just one or two books that we're recommending to all children - but rather we cater the books to fit each individual child. "
Rick Riordan
Child
Important
Think
" I don't teach anymore, but I can still clearly see fifth period after lunch - that's a real tough time to teach. And I tried to imagine writing a story that would appeal to those kids - even when they're tired, even when they're bouncing off the walls. "
Rick Riordan
Writing
Tough
Tired
" No one spoke in terms of children's literature, as opposed to adult literature, until around the 1940s. It wasn't categorised much before then. Even Grimm's tales were written for adults. But it is true that ever since 'Harry Potter' there has been a renaissance in fantasy literature. J. K. Rowling opened the door again. "
Rick Riordan
Children
Door
Literature
" When I write, I'm still imagining a kid reading it on paper. I read e-books when I travel, but in general I still prefer holding an old-fashioned book in my hands. There's a special, tactile experience. "
Rick Riordan
Reading
Travel
Hands
" You have to work hard to get to the top of your game. I think every writer has doubts! I still do all the time. "
Rick Riordan
Time
You
Work Hard
" I think the more you understand myths, the more you understand the roots of our culture and the more things will resonate. Do you have to know them? No, but certainly it is nice to recognise how deeply these things are embedded in our literature, our art. "
Rick Riordan
Culture
Roots
Know
" When I was young, my favorite picture book was 'Fletcher and Zenobia,' written by Edward Gorey and illustrated by Victoria Chess. It's long out of print now, but its mix of macabre humor and 1960s psychedelia made it a perfect children's book for the times. "
Rick Riordan
Humor
Picture
Long
" I always love it when I hear back from kids who say they discovered Percy Jackson and now wear their learning difference as a badge of honour. "
Rick Riordan
Now
Always
Back
" The images from the book you make in your head are always going to be the best images. "
Rick Riordan
Going
You
Head
" I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the level of success I've had. I was just writing stories for my own sons. "
Rick Riordan
Feel
Writing
Success
" I stick closely to the structure of the myths. I may have some fun with the mythology by changing the environment to modern-day, but the structure of the myths, the monsters, the relationships of the gods - none of that is made up. "
Rick Riordan
Relationships
Environment
Fun
" Back when I taught middle school and wrote adult mysteries, my students often asked me why I wasn't writing for kids. I never had a good answer for them. It took me a long time to realize they were right. "
Rick Riordan
Writing
Time
School
" There are so many fantastic stories and I want to bring Thor and Odin and the other gods into the modern world, just like I did with the Greeks and 'Percy Jackson.' I'll give the books an urban setting and have young people interacting with the Norse gods. "
Rick Riordan
Bring
Young
People
" I saw 'The 39 Clues' as a potential vehicle for doing some education in a fun way - to take some of these amazing stories from history, dust them off and make them alive. "
Rick Riordan
Fun
Amazing
Doing
" I think kids will read more good books than we can possibly produce. "
Rick Riordan
Good
Books
Kids
" Kids ask me questions. You'd think after doing this for four years, I would have heard every single question anyone could think of to ask, but no, every time, they surprise me, they ask me something I never thought of before. "
Rick Riordan
Think
You
Time
" Writing 'Book 1: The Maze of Bones' didn't feel much different than writing one of my other novels, but I thought it was very innovative to offer the website and trading card components as well for those readers who wanted to go more in depth with the Cahill experience. "
Rick Riordan
Feel
Thought
Writing
" I wanted my students to leave my classroom loving reading and wanting to read more, and if they left my classroom thinking that reading is boring, then I haven't done my job. "
Rick Riordan
Reading
Job
Loving
" I have more ideas than I'll ever be able to write in five lifetimes. "
Rick Riordan
Write
Able
Five
" I do like to wrap things up and leave some things to the readers' imagination. "
Rick Riordan
Leave
Up
Things
" I loved the idea of making history interesting for kids! When Scholastic approached me about 'The 39 Clues', I immediately started going through the 'greatest hits' from my years as a social studies teacher, and picked the historical characters and eras that most appealed to my students. "
Rick Riordan
History
Loved
Interesting