Even the great ones had to work hard...

"Despite attending lectures by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis [at University], I did not expect to be writing fantasy. But that was what I started to write when I was married and had children of my own. It was what they liked best. But small children do not allow you the use of your brain. They used to jump on my feet to stop me thinking. And I had not realized how much I needed to teach myself about writing. I took years to learn, and it was not until my youngest child began school that I was able to produce a book which a publisher did not send straight back."
                                                                 --Diana Wynne Jones



It's nice to know even Diana Wynne Jones's stories didn't just fly off her pen from the beginning. Yes, we all have to put in our hours. And learn as we go along. Though whether we end up as good as Diana in the end...Hmmm, yes. Well, it's something to reach for, isn't it?