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" When I work on a book, I usually start with a question. And I don't sit around and go 'I need to write a book. What's a good question?' It will be a question that's just clanging around in my head. So for 'What It Is,' it was this idea of 'What is an image?' "

Lynda Barry

Good

Need

Book

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" In life there are always these things happening if you can just get the joke. "

" I run a tight ship, but I try and make it seem like I'm not doing that at all. "

" It's much easier to teach writing, because people are less shy about writing. If they're in a group, nobody can see what they're writing. When you're drawing, people get a little more nervous. "

" I do love to eavesdrop. It's inspirational, not only for subject matter but for actual dialogue, the way people talk. "

" The thing that really struck me when I went to junior high was class. I grew up on a pretty poor street, but the school district I was in included some fine neighborhoods - so I got to know a couple of the kids from those places and went to their houses and experienced such culture shock. "

" Kids don't plan to play. They don't go: 'Barbie, Ken, you ready to play? It's gonna be a three-act.' "

" The strips are nearly effortless unless I am really emotionally upset, a wreck. "

Lynda Barry

Effortless

I Am

" If I had had me for a student I would have thrown me out of class immediately. "

" Love will make a way out of no way. "

" If I didn't try to eavesdrop on every bus ride I take or look for the humor when I go for a walk, I would just be depressed all the time. "

" 'What It Is' was based on this class I've been teaching for 10 years - I wanted to write a book about writing that didn't mention stuff like story structure, protagonists, and all those things that we know about only because they already exist in stories. "

" In my writing class, we never, ever talk about the writing - ever. We never address a story that's been read. I also won't let anyone look at the person who's reading. No eye contact; everybody has to draw a spiral. And I would like to do a drawing class where we could talk about anything except for the drawing. No one could even mention it. "

" I listen like mad to any conversation taking place next to me just trying to hear why this is funny. Women's restrooms are especially great. I wash my hands twice waiting for people to come in and start talking. "

Lynda Barry

Women

People

" I've gotten a lot of livid letters about the awfulness of my work. I've never known what to make of it. Why do people bother to write if they hate what I do? "

" People think that whatever I put into strips has happened to me in my life. "

" I started doing cartoons when I was about 21. I never thought I would be a cartoonist. It happened behind my back. I was always a painter and drawer. "

" I think of images as an immune system and a transit system. "

" Cartoonist was the weirdest name I finally let myself have. I would never say it. When I heard it I silently thought, what an awful word. "

" The library was open for one hour after school let out. I hid there, looking at art books and reading poetry. "

" The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad it's there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble in the story, your kingdom isn't dead. "

" If it is your time, love will track you down like a cruise missile. "

" I live in constant fear of being fired or dropped for that dark part of my work I can't control. "

" I remember my comic strips being called 'new wave.' It bugged me. "

" My childhood is always going to limit me. "

Lynda Barry

Limit

Going

" When you are little, you will draw pictures for no reason. "

" I grew up in a house that had a whole lot of trouble. As much trouble as you could imagine. "

" Going on Letterman is like going off the high dive. It's exhilarating, but after a while it wasn't the kind of thrill I enjoyed. "

Lynda Barry

Kind

Off

" The minute you understand racism, you're responsible for being racist. It's like eating from the tree of knowledge. "

" We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay. "

" I used to live a very social life and never spend much solitary time looking at birds or reading. "