Kill Her For Me," She Said In That Whiny Little-girl Voice. Diego Took A Step Toward Me, Wearing An Expression That Told Me He Was Only Too Happy To Oblige His Lady Love. "oh, What?" I Said. I Wasn't Even Scared. I Didn't Care Anymore. The Numbness In My Heart Had Pretty Much Taken Over My Whole Body. "you Always Do What She Tells You? You Know, We Have A Word For That Now. It's Called Being Whipped.

-Meg Cabot

Please Wait....
Translating....

Kill Her For Me,"

Meg Cabot

Topic

Girl

Taken

Heart

More From Meg Cabot

And Generally, When People Say Good Night, They Keep Their Tongues To Themselves.

Good Night

Night

People

All Of My Characters Are A Little Bit Based On People I Know In Real Life. You Know When You Do That You Have To Change The Character A Little Bit In Case Your Friend Or Your Relative Reads The Book, Because You Don't Want Them To Know You Wrote About Them... They Might Get Mad.

Real

Book

Character

Meet Me Inside The Edge Of The Icepack Penguin Enclosure In At Four Fifteen" She Says, Sounding Just Like Kim Possible. If Kim Possible Ever Asked People To Meet Her Inside A Penguin Enclosures.

People

Four

Fifteen

It's Kind Of Depressing, If You Think About It. I Mean, Me Being So Young, And Yet So Cynical And Suspicious.

Depressing

Mean

Thinking

Your Assignment,' He Bellowed At Kelly, 'was To Make A Persuasive Argument. Demanding To Know Whether Detractors Of Your Position Are On Crack Is Not Arguing Persuasively.

Cracks

Arguing

Argument

If It Turned Out Brandon Stark Also Likes To Dress Up As Strwberry Shortcake While Playing Croquet With His Miniture Pony Collection, I Totally Wouldn't Be Surprised Anymore.

Dresses

Ponies

Likes

What's A Mediator You Ask? Oh, A Person Who Acts As A Liason Between The Living And The Dead. Hey, Wait A Minute...what're You Doing With That Strait Jacket?-suze Simon's Imagination

Imagination

Waiting

Hey

There's Nothing Secret About It. Everyone Knows That I Am Waiting For My Real Parents, The King And Queen, To Come Restore Me To My Rightful Throne.

Kings

Queens

Real

I'll Put A Bullet Through My Own Brain. Let Alone Wait For Stark To Do It. Your Sister Will Drive Me To It, Howard. No Offense.

Waiting

Brain

Bullets

Unrequited Love Is All Right In Books And Things, But In Real Life, It Completely Sucks

Real

Book

Unrequited Love

That's Enough Of That," Jesse Said. Next Thing I Knew, He'd Scooped Me Up. Only Instead Of Carrying Me To My Bed And Setting Me Down On It All Romantically, You Know, Like Guys Do To Girls In The Movies, He Just Dumped Me Onto It, So I Bounced Around And Would Have Fallen Off If I Hadn't Grabbed The Edge Of The Mattress. "thanks," I Said, Not Quite Able To Keep All Of The Sarcasm Out Of My Voice.

Girl

Sarcasm

Voice

Oh, That's Just Great. I Come All The Way Back Here, Risking Major Brain Cell Burnout, And You Don't Even Believe Me? I'm Basically Guaranteeing Myself A Lifetime Of Heartbreak, And All You Have To Say Is That You Think I'm Not Right In The Head?

Believe

Thinking

Cells

It Just Goes To Show That What One Person Considers A "bad Attitude" Might Actually Just Be Total Frustration Over Being Pushed Beyond The Brink Of One's Mental And Physical Endurance.

Attitude

Frustration

Endurance

Did You See Him? I Know The Photo Was Grainy, But He Looks Like One Of Those Death Metal Goth Heads, Or Whatever They’re Called. All Dressed In Black With Long Hair I Took Umbrage At My Mother Describing My Boyfriend This Way. John Was The Lord Of The Underworld. How Else Was He Supposed To Dress?

Mother

Hair

Long

Hormones Are Very Powerful Things. We Are Helpless In Their Wake.

Powerful

Hormones

Very Powerful

And That Whole Do-able/undo-able Thing? Yeah. Need I Point Out That Neither Ruth Nor I Have Ever "done" Anybody In Our Lives?

Needs

Done

Ruth

Tell Me Jesse, Does She Sigh When You Kiss Her Too

Kissing

Doe

Sigh

Sometimes In Life, You Fall Down Holes You Can't Climb Out Of By Yourself. That's What Friends And Family Are For-to Help. They Can't Help, However, Unless You Let Them Know You're Down There.

Fall

Family And Friends

Helping

It's Simple, Really," Alaric Wulf Said. " Lucien Antonescu Is The Prince Of Darkness." Jon Nodded. "yeah," He Said. "we Know. He's Got A Castle And Stuff.

Simple

Darkness

Castles

She'd Realize Steve Was Her Soul Mate And That She Would Never Love Anyone As Much As She Loved Him.

Soul

Soul Mate

Realizing

If Kisses Were What You Were Looking For, Little Fool, Why Didn't You Come To Me? Quoted By Susannah Simon

Kissing

Littles

Fool

Look, Mr. Uh, Wulf I Appreciate Your Trying To Warn Me About This, Ireally Do. But There's No Such Thing As Vampires. They're Made-up. We Writers Made Them Up. I'm Sorry We Did Such A Good Job That We Made The Whole World Paranoid, But It's True. They're Fictional. Blame Bram Stoker. He Started It.

Jobs

Sorry

Appreciate

And Now Rocky Is Begging Me To Watch Dora The Explorer With Him. I Understand That Millions Of Kids Love Dora And Have Learned To Read Or Whatever From Her Show. But I Wouldn't Mind If Dora Fell Off A Cliff And Took Her Little Pals With Her

Kids

Mind

Watches

And I Like A Good Horror Story As Much As The Next Person So Long As They Kill Off Some Men Too And Not Just Girls. But The Voices Joan Heard Were Real. There’s Clear And Substantiated Proof They Were Real.

Girl

Real

Men

When I Did See The Story Of Persephone, I Was Really Drawn To It. Persephone, The Goddess Of Spring, Was Kept From Olympus By Her Mother, Demeter, Because Demeter Was Very Worried That The Gods Of Olympus Would Do Something Terrible To Her.

Mother

Spring

Olympus

I Think We Make Our Own Luck. Our Parents Give Us Life, But What We Do With That Life Is Our Own Responsibility.

Responsibility

Thinking

Giving

And I'm Sure Than In Poland, Or Somewhere, It Is Considered Cool To Drive A Porsche And Wear Necklaces And Black Silk, But At Least Back In Brooklyn If You Did Those Things You Were Either A Drug Dealer Or From New Jersey.

Drug

Black

Brooklyn

Jake Leaned On The Horn, Swearing Loudly. Gina Covered Her Eyes. Doc Flung His Arms Around Me, Burying His Face In My Lap, And Dopey, To My Great Surprise, Began To Scream Like A Girl, Very Close To My Ear.

Girl

Eye

Jake

Nice To Know I Have That Effect On Boys. I Mean, Christopher Doesn't Even Know I Exist, And Brandon Stark Practically Throws Up When He Sees Me. Having My Brain Transplated Into A Supermodel's Body Was Doing Wonders For My Love Life.

Nice

Love Life

Mean

In High School, I Was Very Active In Extracurricular Activities Such As Art, Theatre, And Choir. I Also Wrote For The School Newspaper, But Not Regularly, Because I Never Liked Writing Non-fiction Very Much.

Art

School

Writing

But He's Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places. Like Fancy Under Catalogs At Least He Knows Enough Not To Date While He's Campaigning

Looking For Love

Fancy

Enough

It’s My Own Fault, Really. For Believing In Fairy Tales. Not That I Ever Mistook Them For Actual Historical Fact, Or Anything. But I Did Grow Up Believing That For Every Girl, There’s A Prince Out There Somewhere. All She Has To Do Is Find Him. Then It’s On With The Happily Ever After. So You Can Only Imagine What Happened When I Found Out. That My Prince Really Is One. A Prince. No, I Really Mean It. He’s An Actual Prince.

Girl

Growing Up

Believe

When Something Horrible Happens, It's Human Nature To Want To Blame It On Someone. We Want Someone To Be Held Accountable, Even Though Sometimes Things Just Happen.

Want

Blame

Sometimes

Maybe You Just Saw What You Wanted To See. Or Maybe You Justfelt What You Wanted To Feel.

Saws

Feels

Wanted

One Of The Reasons That I Think I Do Love To Write Is Because I Did Have A Difficult Childhood And Not So Great Teenage Years. It Always Helped Me Escape From My Problems.

Teenage

Writing

Thinking

I Don't Do Alcohol. Or Other People's Boyfriends. And Don't You Forget It.

People

Alcohol

Forget

Remember, If You Don't Feel Passionate About The Characters And Subject Of Your Story, Your Readers Won't Either.

Character

Stories

Passionate

I Felt As If The Milky Way, Hovering Above Our Heads Like A Celestial Pitcher, Had Suddenly Overturned, Pouring Suns And Planets Down My Throat. Stars Seemed To Be Shooting Out Of My Finger And Toes, The Ends Of My Hair.

Stars

Hair

Pouring

You Just Said You Were Sorry." ... "i Was Only Apologizing," He Said Stiffly, "for Startling You. The Applause Was To Compliment You On The Improvement In Your Life-saving Techniques Since The Last Time You-

Sorry

Compliments You

Lasts

There Are Nice, Funny, Totally Good-looking Guys Out There. You Just Have To Know Where To Look…and Apparently, Where Not To Look.

Nice

Guy

Looks

It's What's Known As An Origin Myth. What Happened To Me? That's No Myth.

Myth

Happened

Known

I Love The Princess Diaries Series! Do You?

Princess

Diaries

Princess Diaries

But It’s There. Just Because I Haven’t Told Anyone Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t There, All The Time, Lurking In The Back Of My Mind, Like One Those Nsync Songs You Can’t Get Out Of Your Head.

Song

Mean

Nsync

However, Because They Have No Actual Interests Of Their Own (or If They Do, They Squelch Them In Order To Fit In) And Merely Pursue Those That They Think Will Look Best On Their College Apps, They're Zombies.

Thinking

College

Order

Who-who Are You?" Seth Asked, Hesitantly."wh-what Do You Want?" How Else Was Was I Supposed To Reply? The Words Were Out Of My Mouth Before I Could Stop Them.i Mean, I'd Only Seen The Movie Like Seventeen Times. "i'm Luke Skywalker," I Said. "i'm Here To Rescue You.

Mean

Want

Mouths

I Think We're Given Multiple Chances To Meet Multiple Soulmates. Sure, You Could Meet A Soulmate In Highschool. But That Doesn't Mean If You Don't Act On It, You'll Never Meet Anyone Else. You Will, Just At A Time That's More Convenient For You.

Soulmate

Mean

Thinking

Every Moment Away From You Feels Like Time Spent In A Sort Of Cell. I Can Think Of Nothing, Dream Of Nothing, But You. Unfortunately, I Will Have To Remain In My Self-inflicted Prison A Bit Longer, Since Work Will Keep Me From Meeting You Tonight. I Can't Seem To Find A Way To Avoid This... However, I Hope This Gift Will Make Up For My Unforgivable Behavior. I Saw This And Though Of You, And St. George. You Have Slain The Dragon. Until We Meet Again, I Am Your Lucien.

Dream

Thinking

Dragons

They Just Kept Grinning At Me From Over The Stupid Sign, Dopey Because He's Too Dumb To Know Any Better, Doc Because – Well, I Guess Because He Might Have Been Glad To See Me. Doc's Weird That Way. Sleepy, The Oldest, Just Stood There, Looking … Well, Sleepy.

Stupid

Dumb

Might

If You're Writing A Screenplay, You Need To Be Prepared To Let Go: There's A Good Chance The Words You Write Aren't Going To Be The Ones That End Up On Screen.

Letting Go

Writing

Needs

Because My Heat Was Too Full Of Appreciation For What My Friends-- My Real Friends-- Had Done For Me.

Appreciation

Real

Done

This Was Very Exciting. I'd Never Had Two Boys Get Into A Fight Over Me Before. The Fact That One Of The Boys Was My Stepbrother, However, And Held About As Much Romantic Appeal For Me As Max, The Family Dog, Somewhat Dampened My Enthusiasm. And Michael Wasn't Much Of A Catch, Either, When You Actually Thought About It, Being A Potential Murderer And All. Oh, Why Did I Have To Have Such A Couple Of Losers Fighting Over Me? Why Couldn't Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Fight Over Me? Now That Would Be Truly Excellent.

Dog

Couple

Fighting

I Loved You Way Before You Ever Had A Chance To Put A Spell On Me. I Loved You At 'i've Never Been To Long Island,'" Zach Said. I Couldn't Keep A Big Goofy Grin From My Face. I Loved You At 'i Like Seals,'" I Admitted. He Grinned Back.

Islands

Long

Way

And Eternity Is A Long Time. So If You Have To Spend It With Someone I Could See Wanting To Spend It With Someone Impossible...but Interesting.

Long

Interesting

Impossible

Friend Tim Shakes Hands With Perfect Specimen Of Mankind. Will Never Wash Right Hand Again.

Hands

Perfect

Mankind

Yeah,” Nicole Said, Her Straw Noisily Hitting The Bottom Of Her Gut Buster. “well, I Would Have Appreciated It If You Guys Had Wrecked A Little Less Stuff. Because My House Smelled Like Smoke For Months. And Construction On The Tarantinos’ New Garage Starts At Eight On The Dot Every Morning, And It’s Still Going On, And You Know How I Get If I Don’t Have My Full Ten Hours Of Beauty Sleep.” “so That’s What Happened To Your Face,” Cody Said. “i Was Wondering.

Morning

Sleep

Eight

It’s So Much Easier To Walk Away Than It Is To Have To Explain To Someone That You Never Want To See Them Again.

Want

Easier

Walks

You Know. Life's Short. If You Don't Try New Things, You'll Never Know What You're Best At. And You Can Only Make Time For New Things By Quitting The Things You Know Don't Work For You.

Trying

Quitting

Making Time

Wait. Why Am I Thinking About Krispy Kremes? We’re Supposed To Be Exercising.

Food

Exercise

Thinking

I Snatched The Paper Away From Dopey. "hey," He Yelled. "i Was Reading That!" "let Somebody Who Can Pronounce All The Big Words Have A Try," I Said.

Reading

Trying

Hey

Writing Used To Be My Hobby, But Now That It's My Job, I Have No Hobby - Except Watching Tv And Laying Around The Pool Reading 'u.s. Weekly.' I Have Tried Many Hobbies, Such As Knitting, Pilates, Ballet, Yoga, And Guitar, But None Of Them Have Taken.

Jobs

Yoga

Taken

I Lay There In My Black Slip Dress And Wondered If I Ought To Have Worn Pants. I Mean, Who Knew What I Was Going To Find Up There? What If I Had To Do Some Climbing? People Might See My Underwear.

Mean

Climbing

People

I'm Sorry, Heather, But Everything Was Not Just Fine Before I Got Here. You Know How I Know That? Because You're Dead. Okay? You Are Dead. Dead People Don't Have Lockers, Or Best Friends, Or Boyfriends. You Know Why? Because They're Dead.-suze Simon

Sorry

People

Heathers

In High School, I Wanted To Be An Actress. Until I Got To College And Took Some Creative Writing Courses. Then I Decided I Wanted To Become A Novelist.

Writing

School

College

I Thought You'd Like It," He Said, Seeming Hurt. "you Look Very Pretty.

Hurt

Looks

Said

Strong Female Characters - Even If They Don't Necessarily Make The Same Decisions That We Might - Make Such Great Narrative Material, Especially When There's An Equally Strong Male Character In The Mix.

Strong

Character

Decision

This Was Something You Had To Work Through On You Own," Jason Said. "besides, I Knew You'd Do The Right Thing." "oh, Right," I Said. I Wanted To Throw Something At Him. I Really Did. "and If I Hadn't?" Now Jason Brandished Something He'd Been Holding Behind His Back. It Was A Golf Club. "i Figured Big Bertha Here Would Drive Them Away," He Said.

Golf

Clubs

Jason

The First Thing We Did Was Change All The Clocks So That Her Siblings Thought It Was Bedtime, Then Put Them To Bed Ignoring Their Plaintive Protests That They Were Not Tired. They Wept Themselves To Sleep Soon Enough.

Sibling

Tired

Sleep

Save Your Rejections So That Later When You Are Famous You Can Show Them To People And Laugh.

Funny

Motivation

Sea

Hasn’t Anyone Ever Told You,” Jesse Asked, In A Semi-amused Voice, “ That A Gentleman Never Lays A Hand On A Lady?” Which I Thought Was Kind Of Funny, Considering Where Jesse Had Had His Hand The Last Time I’d Seen Him. But I Thought It Better To Let That Slide.

Hands

Voice

Gentleman

It's Only In Fairy Tales That Princesses Can Afford To Wait For The Handsome Prince To Save Them. In Real Life, They Have To Bust Out Of Their Own Coffins And Do The Saving Themselves.

Real

Princess

Waiting

So Take My Advice: Whatever You Do? Don’t Blink

Advice

Blink

I've Come To The Conclusion That, Aside From Nazis, The Taliban, And Possibly The Honey Badger, There Is No One On The Planet More Merciless Than A Teenage Girl Once She's Decided She Dislikes You.

Girl

Teenage

Honey

Foxy Girls Know That Silence May Be Golden-but Only For Four Seconds. Anything Longer And You're Heading For Awkward Avenue.

Girl

Silence

Awkward

You Didn't," John Said, Stepping From The Shadows As He Clapped For Me, "even Hit Your Head This Time.

Shadow

Said

Abandon

Bite Me, Harry Potter.

Potters

Bite Me

Bites

...it Was Never A Good Idea To Date A Foreigner. You Can Never Tell When They're Lying.' 'hello. Dave Was British.

Lying

Ideas

Hello

I Used To Draw And Illustrate, But I Don't Do That Anymore Because I Just Like To Write. I Like To Leave The Illustrations To Actual Professional Illustrators.

Writing

Illustration

Used

The The Tabloids Are Always Going To Be A War For Popularity In The Celeb World.

War

World

Tabloids

Loud Ringing Noises, I've Discovered, Upset Mr.peepers.

Upset

Noise

Loud

This Is Not To Say That I Wasn't Completely Repulsed. I Mean, I Wasn't Exactly Proud That My Stepbrother Was In There Tongue Wrestling With The Second Stupidest Person In Our Class, After Himself.

Mean

Wrestling

Class

It Is A Documented Fact. I Read It In People Magazine.

People

Magazines

Facts

A Wrinkle In Time Is One Of My Favorite Books Of All Time. I've Read It So Often, I Know It By Heart. Meg Murry Was My Hero Growing Up. I Wanted Glasses And Braces And My Parents To Stick Me In An Attic Bedroom. And I So Wanted To Save Charles Wallace From It.

Growing Up

Book

Hero

That Hurt Querida, That Really Hurt

Hurt

Weight Doesn’t Matter. It Really Doesn’t. I Mean, It Does If You’re A Model Or Whatever.

Mean

Doe

Weight

My Heart Is Broken. It Really Is. All The Signs Are There. I Can't Sleep- Not Even Burgers. Every Time The Phone Rings, My Pulse Leaps... But It's Never For Me, It's Never Him.

Heart

Sleep

Phones

But I’m Living Proof You Don’t Have To Spend A Lot In Order To Look Great.

Order

Looks

Proof

For Each Book, I Do End Up Making A Kind Of Playlist To Fit The Characters.

Book

Character

Kind

And The Truth Is, I’d Felt Kind Of A Thrill About Wearing Jason’s Big Boy Pants. I Was A Sick Kid, Even Way Back Then.

Kids

Boys

Sick

Do Not Chase Boys. Chasing Boys Is Bad. Chasing Boys Can Lead To Horrible Things Like Mansions Going Up Into Flames, Hand Amputations, And Blindness. So Have Some Self Respect And Don't Let Things Get Too Far Before The Wedding Day.

Boys

Self

Flames

He'd Know That I Think That . . . Well, That Bending An Enemy's Will Through Military Force Is The Absolute Last Way A Nation Ought To Go About Solving Their Problems.

Military

Thinking

Enemy

Was It Frisson When You Saw A Guy Smile And It Made Your Heart Act All Weird?

Heart

Guy

Saws

You Know In Sixth Grade, When They Made All Of Us Girls Go Into This Other Room And Watch A Video About Getting Our Periods And Stuff? I Bet While We Were Gone, The Boys Were Watching A Video About How To Look At Each Other In That Infuriating Way.

Girl

Boys

Watches

...men Aren't In Touch With Their Emotions, And Don't Share Enough [?]

Men

Emotion

Enough

I Realized That Life Is So Short: Why Waste One Minute Of It Worrying What Other People Think Or Say About You, Or What Score You Got On Some Test? Why Not Believe What You Want To Believe, And Do What You Love?

Believe

Thinking

Worry

I Just Want To Let You Know That When I Look Into My Future, I See Nothing But You.” That’s What Chaz Had Whispered In My Ear At Some Point During The Wedding Last Night. Then He’d Whispered. “and You’re Not Even Wearing Spanx.

Night

Looks

Ears

It’s Only By Studying The Mistakes Of The Past,” Lucien Said Mildly, “that We Can Even Have A Future

Mistake

Past

Study

No Offense, But If You Want To Be With My Niece, You Should Think About Getting A Haircut. My Mother Is Very Conservative.” “no Offense Taken,” John Said Mildly.

Mother

Niece

Taken

Someday You're Really Going To Have To Describe To Me In More Detail What Life Is Like On The Planet You Live On. Because It Sounds Really Great, And I'd Like To Visit There One Day.

Life Is Like

One Day

Sound

They Say It’s Always Darkest Until Right Before The Dawn. I’ve Worked On Enough Projects To Know How True This Saying Really Is.

Dawn

Enough

Projects

When He Smiled, Something Strange Happened To My Insides. It Was Like They Turned To Liquid.

Liquid

Strange

Happened

It Will Hurt. Because Deep Down, I'll Know There Was Someone.. Someone I Was Supposed To Have Met. Only I'll Never Meet Him. I'll Go Through My Whole Life Waiting For Him To Come Along, Only He Never Will. What Kind Of Life Is That?

Hurt

Waiting

Kind

There Will Be No More British Guys. Unless They Are Members Of The Royal Family, Of Course.

Guy

Royal

British

Pretty Isn't The Only Thing That Matters - Being Smart And Kind Matters More, Of Course - But All Daughters Should Hear From Their Moms That They Look Pretty Once In A While.

Mom

Daughter

Mother

I Look Around For A Conveniently Loaded Pistol.sadly, There Doesn't Seem To Be One Available, So I Have No Choice But To Answer The Question. - Queen Of Babble Gets Hitched

Queens

Choices

Looks

I Was An Unhappy Child, And That Puts Me Off Having A Child Of My Own.

Children

Unhappy

My Own

I Have Nothing Against Sean Penn. I Don't Even Mind That He Ended Up Divorcing Madonna. I Mean, I Still Like Shia Labeouf Even Though He Chose To Star In Transformers, Which Turned Out To Be A Movie About Robots From Space. That Talk. Which Is Just As Bad As Choosing To Divorce Madonna, If You Ask Me

Stars

Mean

Divorce

The Brave May Not Live Forever, But The Cautious Do Not Live At All.

Stay Strong

Courage

Business

Why Does Anyone Commit Murder?' He Asked In A Low Voice. 'i-'i Blinked.'how Should I Know?' 'three Reasons,' Christopher Said. He Held Up One Finger. 'love.' Another Finger. 'revenge.' And Finally, A Third Finger. 'profit...

Revenge

Voice

Doe

I Usually Know Almost Exactly How I Feel. The Problem Is, I Just Can't Tell Anyone.

Problem

Feels

Knows

Susannah." My Dance Partner's Breath Was Soft Against My Cheek. "susannah...." Yeah. In My Dreams. In Real Life, The Voice Calling My Name Wasn't A Bit Masculine. That's Because It Belonged To A Twelve-year-old Boy.

Dream

Real

Boys

Some People Can Seem Perfect... Everything About Them Can, On Paper, Be Just Right. Until You Get To Know Them. Really Know Them. Then You Find Out, In The End, While They Might Be Perfect To Every One Else, They Just Aren't Right For You.

People

Perfect

Paper

I Really Liked Drama And Being In Plays, So When I Was Playing A Character Onstage And I Could Act Like Somebody Else, Then I Wasn't Scared Or Nervous, But I Didn't Like Meeting New People When I Had To Be Myself. That Was Scary.

Drama

Character

Play

Even Though I Loved To Write, I Never Liked English Lit. Class Very Much. I Think It Ruins Books When You Dissect Them Too Much. I Liked My Art Classes Best.

Art

Book

Writing

Inside The Envelope With The Letter Was A Little Princess Leia Action Figure Usb Flash Drive. For Me To Store My Novel On, Since He Was Right - I Never Back Up My Computer's Hard Drive. The Sight Of It - It's Princess Leia In Her Hoth Outfit, My Favorite Of Her Costumes (how Had He Remembered?) Brought Tears To My Eyes.

Princess

Eye

Sight

It Was Only When They'd Rounded The Corner Toward The Penguin That We Finally Sat Up, Laughing Semi-hysterically. "oh My God, Did You See Her Face?" Becca Asked Between Guffaws. "'there's Something In My Hair!'" "that Was Fantastic, Crazytop," Jason Said, Wiping Tears Of Laughter From His Eyes. "best Master Plan Yet.

Laughter

Eye

Hair

I Think You Get So Wrapped Up In The Book You're Currently Writing, It's Hard To Think About Anything Else. But I Know As Soon As I'm Done With This Book, I'll Move On To Something Else.

Moving

Book

Writing

Look, I Know What You're Thinking. You're Thinking I Said No Because The Whole Thing Would Just Be Too Dirty Dancing , Right? Summer Fling At The Resort, Only With The Roles Reversed: You Know, The Poor Working Girl And The Rich Doctor's Son, Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner, Blah Blah Blah. That Kind Of Thing.

Summer

Girl

Baby

Not Like This Vision Before Us, Who Was Shaking Water Out Of His Slightly Overlong Reddish-brown Hair As He Leaned Over To Lay Down His Board (revealing, As He Did So, The Fact That Beneath His Baggy Swim Trunks—so Weighted Down With Water That They Had Sunk Somewhat Dangerously Low On His Hips—lurked What Appeared To Be An Exceptionally Well-formed Gluteus Maximus)

Hair

Water

Swim

Oh, Jason, I Couldn't Get My Locker Open...i Know, I Tried Twisting It Right, Then Left, But It Wouldn't Budge. I Guess I'm Just Not Strong Enough. Could You Help Me? Please? Oh, Great. Oh, Jason, You're So Strong... Seriously? That Was Me Now? On The Other Hand , A Guy Was Following Me.

Strong

Hands

Guy

I’ve Never Enjoyed Myself More Than I Have The Past Forty-eight Hours, During Which I’ve Been Trapped In A Car With One Of The Worst Drivers I’ve Ever Seen, Run Up The Spanish Steps And Then Down Again So I Could Be On Time To Wait In Line To Perjuer Myself At The American Consulate. And I’d Like To Continue Doing Those Sorts Of Thing With You On A Regular Basis For The Foreseeable Future.

Running

Past

Eight

Sleepy Pulled The Car To A Stop In Front Of This Paved Entranceway, Which Was Flanked On Either Side By These Enormous Palm Trees, Kind Of Like The Polynesian Resort At Disney World. In Fact, The Whole Place Had Kind Of A Disney Feel To It. You Know, Really Big, And Kind Of Modern And Fake.

Car

Fake

Tree

But Really, The Term “forgive And Forget” Doesn’t Make Sense To Me. Forgiving Does Allow Us To Stop Dwelling On An Issue, Which Isn’t Always Healthy. But If We Forget, We Don’t Learn From Our Mistakes. And That Can Be Deadly.

Mistake

Dwelling

Issues

My Mother's Psychologist Says I Have An Overactive Anger Switch, But People Just Keep Pissing Me Off.

Mother

Anger

People

Me: “ngh” Cal: “well Put.” ...... Every Boy's Got One

Boys

Wells

Dear Mia, What Can I Say? I Don't Know All That Much About Romance Novels, But I Think You Must Be The Stephen King Of The Genre. Your Book Is Hot. Thanks For Letting Me Read It. Anyone Who Doesn't Want To Publish It Is A Fool. Anyway, Since I Know It's Your Birthday, And I Also Know You Never Remember To Back Anything Up, Here's A Little Something I Made For You. It Would Be A Shame If Ransom My Heart Got Lost Before It Ever Saw The Light Of Day Because Your Hard Drive Crashed. See You Tonight. Love, Michael

Kings

Book

Heart

But I Don't Care What Megan Fox Or Jessica Biel Say: There Are Definite Advantages To Being The Hottest Girl On The Planet. Number One Was That I Got Paid For It. A Lot.

Girl

Numbers

Care

So Go Ahead And Make Your Way Back From The Edge Of Yesterday No One Knows What Can't Be Known 'cause When You Start You're All Alone But Take Enough Steps Take Enough Steps Take Enough Steps And Someday Someday You'll Be Home ---heather Wells, Untitled

Home

Yesterday

Heathers

Jesse, Who Had Not Stirred The Whole Time From The Spot He'd Been Standing, Confident I Could Handle Cheryl Myself, Was Grinning. "it's Every Girl's Dream To Guy To Go To Prom With The Guy She Loves?" He Echoed, Not Just One, But Both Inky Black Eyebrows Raised. "don't Start With Me," I Said. I Tried To Hide My Suddenly Flaming Cheeks By Scraping Away What Was Left Of The Cannolis, And Replacing Them With The Contents Of An Upended Bag Of Chocolate Chip Cookies. "i Have Things To Do.

Girl

Dream

Eyebrows

Life Isn't A Romance Novel. The Truth Is, The Reason Romance Novels Sell So Well ---- The Reason Why Everyone Loves Them ---- Is Because No One's Life Is Actually Like That. Everyone Wants Their Life To Be Like That.

Romance

Want

Reason Why

They've Arrested Sebastian! For M-murder! You've G-got To Stop Them! He D-didn't Do It! He Can't Have Done It! He Doesn't Believe In Murder! He's A V-vegetarian!

Believe

Done

Vegetarian

Do Not Listen To Her," Alaric Said. "she Is Going To Tell You In Some Kind Of Code Only The Two Of You Will Understand, Because You Are Siblings, To Call The Police On Your Cell Phone. But If You Do That, I Will Kill You And Dispose Of Your Body In A Place Where No One Will Find It. The River, I Think. Your Doorman Is So Stupid, He Won't Notice If I Leave This Building Carrying A Body In A Rolled-up Carpet.

Sibling

Stupid

Thinking

Cursed?" I Offered, My Voice Croaky Because Of My Unshed Tears. "it Isn't Cursed." John Said Deliberately, Rearranging The Chain Around My Neck, "if You're Wearing It. It's Blessed.

Blessed

Voice

Tears

Summer Is My Favorite Time To Read Mysteries.

Summer

Mystery

My Favorite

Oh My God. I Thought I Was Going To Have An Aneurysm Right There In Line. Your Hair Smells Really Good? Your Hair Smells Really Good? Who Did He Think He Was? James Bond? You Don't Tell Someone Their Hair Smells Good. Not In A Mall.

Thinking

Hair

Smell

> Cracking: No Need To Yell. > Ftlouie: I’m Not Yelling!!! > Cracking: You’re Using Excessive Amounts Of Punctuation, And On-line, That’s Like Yelling.

Yelling

Needs

Lines

Great. Now I Was Starting To Get Jealous Of Myself.

Jealous

Starting

Get Jealous

You Want A Happy Romantic Relationship? Don’t Ruin It By Getting Married.

Want

Ruins

Married

Why Should Women Have To Fit Into Child Sizes In Order To Be Considered Desirable? That Is Both Sick And Depressing.

Depressing

Children

Order

I Realized Michael Was Right. I Mean, I Am Always Writing In This Journal. And I Do Compose A Lot Of Poetry, And Write A Lot Of Notes And Emails And Stuff. I Mean, I Feel Like I Am Always Writing. I Do It So Much, I Never Even Thought About It As A Talent. It's Just Something I Do All The Time, Like Breathing.

Writing

Mean

Breathing

And I'm Going To Tell The Truth: I Didn't Like That Sean Penn Movie Into The Wild So Much. Yes! I Know It Was Critically Acclaimed. I Know It Won All These Awards! It's Very Sad That A Boy Is Dead And All. But I Thought The Movie Enchanted, With The Singing Princess And The Chipmunk And The People Dancing In Central Park, Was Cuter. So There!

Princess

Boys

Awards

I Actually Love Writing For Teens Best. I Had Such An Awful Time In My Own Teen Years - I Love Having The Chance To Relive Them Through My Fiction.

Writing

Years

Fiction

It Wasn't Until Hope Fluttered Over And Landed At Alex's Feet, Peering Questioningly Up At Him, That He Finally Tore His Hands Away From His Eyes.oh, My God, He Said, Sounding Disgusted. Why Is There A Bird Looking At Me?that's Miss Oliviera's Bird, Henry Volunteered Cheerfully. The Captain Gave It To Her As A Present.kayla Punched Me In The Arm. John's Got His Captain's License? She Whispered. You Are So Lucky. Frank Says He Just Loads Cargo.i Glanced At Frank. I Wondered If Kayla Would Like Him As Much If She Knew The Cargo He Loaded Was Human Souls.

Eye

Feet

Hands

I Stood On Susan Boone's Front Porch, Feeling Lame. But Then, Since I've Pretty Much Felt Lame My Entire Life, This Was No Big Surprise. On The Other Hand, Usually I Felt Lame For No Particular Reason. This Time I Really Had A Reason To Feel Lame.

Hands

Feelings

Lame

Jesse, This Is Craig. Craig, Jesse. You Two Should Get Along. Jesse's Dead, Too.

Two

Should

Suze Simon

We Kissed All The Way Through The Fireworks Display. We Didn’t Even Notice That There Was A Fireworks Display… …i Guess Because We’d Been Making Fireworks Of Our Own.

Way

Fireworks

Display

Back In Middle School, Catherine And I Had Gone Through This Stage Where All We Would Read Were Fantasy Books. We'd Consume Them Like M&m's, By The Fistful, J.r.r. Tolkien And Terry Brooks And Susan Cooper And Lloyd Alexander. Susan Boone Looked, To Me, Like The Queen Of The Elves (there's Almost Always An Elf Queen In Fantasy Books). I Mean, She Was Shorter Than Me And Had On A Strange Lineny Outfit In Pale Blues And Greens.

Queens

Book

School

She Hadn't Slain The Dragon. Not At All. She Hoped No One Ever Would.

Dragons

[...] Even In The Cruelest Human Being There Can Exist A Flower Of Good. Maybe Just The Tiniest Blossom, In Need Of Water And Sunlight, But A Flower Just The Same.

Flower

Water

Needs

Growing Up, I Mostly Read Comic Books And Sci-fi. Then I Discovered The Book 'jane Eyre' By Jane Austen. It Introduced Me To The World Of Romance, Which I Have Since Never Left. Also, The World Of The First-person Narrative.

Growing Up

Book

Romance

My Shoulders Sagged. Really, Is It Too Much To Ask That I Be Able To Come Home From A Long Day Of Work And Relax? Oh, No. I Have To Come Home And Read A Bunch Of Letters Written To The Love Of My Life By His Fiancée, Who, If I Am Correct, Had Him Killed A Hundred And Fifty Years Ago. Then, As If That Is Not Bad Enough, He Wants Me To Explain The Vietnam War.

War

Home

Years

Honey, Some Boys Stopped By To See You. They Had Wood.

Boys

Honey

Woods

Only A Fool Is Never Afraid, Frank. Heroes Are The People Who Carry On Despite Their Fear, Because They Know The Job’s Got To Get Done

Jobs

Hero

People

I Wish I Had Taken Spanish Instead Of French In High School. I Could Eavesdrop On A Lot More Conversations On The Subway If I Knew Spanish.

Taken

School

Wish

I Didn't Even Think About Suggesting He Take The Boots Off. There'd Probably Be A Apocalypse Or Something.

Thinking

Boots

Apocalypse

Hey," Dopey Said When I Was Finished Reading. "how Come They Never Mentioned Me? I'm The One Who Found The Skeleton." "oh, Yeah," Sleepy Said In Disgust. "your Role Was Really Crucial. After All, If It Wasn't For You, The Guy's Skull Might Still Have Been Intact.

Reading

Skeletons

Skulls

If The Guy Likes/loves You, He Won't Care If You Are A Good Kisser Or Not. He Should Like You For What You Are - Not How You Kiss.

Love You

Kissing

Guy

Have You Tried This Shrimp? It's Freaking Amazing. Would You Get Away From Me? I Hate You. You're So Moody. Just Because I Kidnapped You And Tried To Force You To Be My Girlfriend. I Thought You Would Be Over That By Now.

Girlfriend

Hate

Would Be

Maybe Nobody Has A Right To Tell Anybody To Shut Up. Maybe This Is How Wars Get Started, Because Someone Tells Someone Else To Shut Up, And Then No One Will Apologize.

War

Apologizing

Shut Up

Sometimes Between Lunch And Dinner, When There's A Lull, Jill And Shaniqua And I Will Sit Around And Fantasize About What We'd Do If A Real Celebrity Walked Into The Place, Like Chad Michael Murray (although We've Gone Off Him A Bit Since His Divorce) Or Jared Padalecki, Or Even Prince William (you Never Know. He Could Have Gotten His Yacht Lost, Or Whatever.)

Real

Divorce

Lunch

But As You Age, You Lose Other, Even More Important Things, Like Friends-hopefully Only Bad Friends, Who Maybe Weren't As Good For You As You Once Thought. With Luck, You'll Be Able To Hang On To Your True Friends, The Ones Who Were Always There For You....even When You Thought They Weren't. Because Friends Like That Are More Precious Then All The Tiaras In The World

True Friend

Bad Friend

Luck

I Looked Where He Was Tapping. "local Girl Missing, Feared Dead" Beneath It Was A Photo Or Me-my Most Recent School Photo. "oh No." My Heart Filling With Dread, I Took The Paper From Mr. Smith's Hands. "couldn't They Have Found A Better Picture?

Girl

Heart

School

You;re Colling Me, So I Fugure You Must Not Hate Me Anymore. Does This Mean You Wanna Go Out? Ii'm Free Tonight. I Mean , I Have Plans, But I Can Break Them. For You. Brandon, You Kidnapped Me. And Then You Made The Only Person I'll Ever Love In My Life Hate Me. I Completely Despise You. So..., I Take That As A No, You Do Not Want To Go Out With Me Tonight.

Hate

Mean

Doe

I May Have Been Dead For The Past Hundred And Fifty Years, Susannah,...but That Doesn't Mean I Don't Know How People Say Good Night. And Generally, When People Say Good Night, They Keep Their Tongues To Themselves.

Good Night

Mean

Past

Writing Is A Workout, Just Like Going For A Run!

Running

Workout

Writing

He Is The Dark Prince. The All-powerful One. The Leader Of The Creatures Of The Night." Then Meena Said, "i'm Confused Then. I Thought The Prince Of Darkness Was The Devil." [......] "wait," Meena Said, Blinking. " Are You Saying....." "yes," Alaric Said. "that Is Exactly What I'm Saying." Jon Looked Blank. "i Don't Understand. Is He The Devil Or Not?" "lucien Antonescu," Alaric Said. "is A Vampire. Not Just Any Vampire, But The Ruler Of All Vampires.

Powerful

Confused

Dark

Nikki "brandon's Never Hurt Anyone. He's Competely Sweet And Adorable." I Choked A Little On The Sip Of Sparkling Water I'k Just Swallowed. If Brandon Was Sweet And Adorable, I Was Satan's Bride.

Sweet

Hurt

Adorable

I Was Too Lazy To Start A Whole New Story, So I Just Stuck A Princess Into The Story I Was Working On... And The Princess Diaries Was Born!

Princess

Lazy

Diaries

I Like 'em Big. And Stupid. Don't Tell My Husband.

Husband

Stupid

Ems

„everyone Wants To Believe That There’s Something Else – Something Great – Waiting For Them On The Other Side. Paradise. Valhalla. Heaven. Their Next – Hopefully Less Horrible – Life.

Believe

Waiting

Heaven

You Can't Turn Love On And Off Like A Faucet.

Turns

And Off

Sometimes We Need To Take Big Risks If We Want To Find Out Who We Are, And What We Were Put On This Planet For.

Risk

Needs

Want

We Can All Agree That First Loves Can Be A Scary Thing, And That Growing Up Is Hard To Do.

Growing Up

First Love

Scary

If You Give A Man A Fish He'll Eat For A Day, If You Teach A Man To Fish He'll Eat All The Fish You May Have Caught For Yourself

Men

Teach A Man To Fish

Giving

And In What Fairy Tale Would John Ever Be Any Sane Person's Idea Of Prince Charming Anyway? He Was The Opposite Of Charming. More Like Prince Terrifying.

Opposites

Ideas

Fairy Tale

Michael Has Never Cried During A Broadway Show. Except In That Scene Where Tarzan's Ape Father Is Brutally Murdered. And That Was Only Because He Was Laughing So Hard.

Father

Laughing So Hard

Broadway

Suze, Your Whole Life," My Dad Went On, Not Without Sympathy, "you've Always Made The Right Decisions. Not Necessarily The Easiest Ones. The Right Ones. Don't Mess That Up Now, When You're Facing What's Probably The Most Important Decision You'll Ever Have To Make.

Dad

Decision

Important

I Just Got A Fortune Cookie That Says "turn Off Your Computer And Read A Book" Which Is Odd Because I'm Writing A Book...on My Computer!

Book

Writing

Fortune Cookie

Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady

Heart

Cowardice

Faint Of Heart

It's Truly Weird How Everyone Just Thinks They Can Bring Me Diet Coke And Everything Will Be Okay. Especially Since It's Pretty Much True.-lizzie Nichols

Thinking

Coke

Okay

If You Have To Say “no Offense” To Someone, You Have Already Offended Them.

Offense

Ifs

Offended

I Stare At Her, As Dumbstruck As If She'd Just Admitted She's A Scientologist With An Invitation To Join Tom And Katie On The Spaceship When It Shows Up.

Spaceships

Staring

Shows

Okay, Yeah, He Staggered Back And Fell Into The Condiments. Big Deal. There Wasn't Any Blood. I Didn't Even Get Him In The Face. He Saw My Fist Coming, And At The Last Minute He Ducked, So Instead Of Punching Him In The Nose, Like I Intended, I Ended Up Punching Him In The Neck. I Highly Doubt It Even Left A Bruise.

Blood

Doubt

Bruises

I Don't Want Water!" Sarah Cries, Her Face Buried Against My Chest. I Can't See What's Going On In The Rest Of The Lobby Beacuse Sarah's Hair Is Flying Up In My Face, Blocking My View. I Want Justice!" She Wails. Well, We'll Get You Some Of That Too." Magda Has Appeared From Out Of Nowhere. "maybe There's Some In The Freezer.

Block

Hair

Views

What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? What Is The Weight Of A Single Grain Of Sand? The Answer Is Equal To My Interest In The Message You Are About To Leave. So Make It Short.

Hands

Voice

Sound

How Is It That I'd Nearly Been Smothered To Death, And Yet I Could Sit There And Notice Things Like My Stepbrother's Abdominal Muscles A Few Minutes Later?

Abdominals

Minutes

Muscles

We Need To Talk.” “i’m Just – Look,” I Said, As He Took A Step Toward Me. “i’m Just Going To Give Cee Cee A Call And Maybe We’ll Go To The Beach Or Something, Because I Really … I Just Need A Day Off.”another Step Toward Me. Now He Was Right In Front Of Me. “especially,” I Said Significantly, Looking Up At Him, “from Talking. That’s What I Especially Need A Day Off From. Talking.” “fine,” He Said. He Reached Up And Cupped My Face In Both His Hands. “we Don’t Have To Talk.”and That’s When He Kissed Me. On The Lips.

Beach

Hands

Talking

No. The Answer Was No, I Was Not All Right. I Nearly Got Knocked Out. Knocked Out By Desire! Desire For Forbidden Dissimilar Molecules

Desire

Molecules

Answers

Sometimes I Just Want To Write A Really Intense Love Scene. But I Can't Do That In My Books For Teens, Or Parents Will Complain - Believe Me, I've Tried.

Believe

Book

Writing

Whoa. If High School Was Suppose To Be The Best Years Of My Life - At Least So Far - I Was Truly Destined To Have A Sucky Adulthood.

School

Years

Best Year

Needless To Say, The Fact That He Actually Spoke To Me At All Practically Caused Me To Pass Out. And Then The Fact That He Was Actually Saying Something That Sounded Like It Might Be A Prelude To Asking Me Out - Well, I Nearly Threw Up. I Mean It. I Felt Really Sick, But In A Good Way.

Mean

Sick

Asking

But Then I Remembered Something Grandmere Had Once Assured Me Of: No One Has Ever Died Of Embarrassment-never, Not Once In The Whole History Of Time.

Embarrassment

Remembered

Whole

Oh My God, She Said Are You Going To Be Reasonable About This?

Said

Reasonable

I Think If I Hadn't Been A Writer, I'd Have Been A Teacher Like My Dad. He Was A College Professor, And One Of My Greatest Regrets Is That He Passed Away Before I Was Able To Prove To Him That I Wasn't Going To Be Stuck Working At Rax Roast Beef For The Rest Of My Life!

Teacher

Dad

Regret

Don't Cry." "how Can I Not?" I Asked Him. "you Just Said You Loved Me." "well, Why Else Did You Think All Of This Was Happening?" He Set The Book Aside To Wrap His Arms Around Me. "the Furies Wouldn't Be Trying To Kill You If I Didn't Love You." "i Didn't Know," I Said. Tears Were Trickling Down My Cheeks, But I Did Nothing To Try To Stop Them. His Shirt Was Absorving Most Of Them. "you Never Said Anything About It. Every Time I Saw You, You Just Acted So... Wild." "how Was I Supposed To Act?" He Asked. "you Kept Doing Things Like Throwing Tea In My Face.

Book

Love You

Thinking

Hope Springs Eternal, Even In The Heart Of A Fat Girl.

Girl

Spring

Heart

Being Brave Is When You Have To Do Something Because You Know It Is Right, But At The Same Time, You Are Afraid To Do It, Because It Might Hurt Or Whatever. But You Do It Anyway.

Strength

Hurt

Bravery

Smiles Like That Should Be Against The Law. Considering What They Do To A Girl.

Girl

Law

Should

Escape From The Realm Of The Dead Is Impossible. She's Not Dead. Not This Time.

Impossible

Realms

I Get Accused All The Time Of Having A Big Mouth. But If You Ask Me, Guys Gossip Way More Than Girls Do.

Girl

Gossip

Guy

If All People Became Ghosts My Social Life Would Be So Over" - Suze Simon In The Mediator

People

Would Be

Ghost

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.

2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.

2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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