---
title: "2 Departure Quotes By Monica Wood"
description: "2 Departure quotes by Monica Wood. Plus more from Monica Wood and more Departure sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/monica-wood-34298_abandoned_every-good-story-needs-a-complication-we_1283813.jpg"
---

> [Every good story needs a complication. We learn this fiction-writing fundamental in courses and workshops, by reading a lot or, most painfully, through our own abandoned story drafts. After writing twenty pages about a harmonious family picnic, say, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/every-good-story-needs-a-complication-we-learn-this-fiction-writing/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2dd/monica-wood-34298_abandoned_every-good-story-needs-a-complication-we_1283813.jpg)

> [It's often hard to determine, especially in early drafts, whether or not a story has a bona fide complication. Remember this: A complication must either illuminate, thwart, or alter what the character wants. A good complication puts emotional pressure on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/it-s-often-hard-to-determine-especially-in-early-drafts-whether-or/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b80/monica-wood-34298_astonishing_it-s-often-hard-to-determine-especially_2922950.jpg)

## Other authors on Departure

- [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-thomas-jefferson-90435.jpg) Thomas Jefferson 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departure/thomas-jefferson/)

## More by Monica Wood

> [“Convince is for thought; persuade is for action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/convince-is-for-thought-persuade-is-for-action/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“I have always loved books for their reassuring heft, for their promise of new words, for their air of mystery, for their characters who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/i-have-always-loved-books-for-their-reassuring-heft-for-their-promise/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“The packet of fading photos gives it away if you know how to look: always a rundown porch landing and stair rails behind, always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/the-packet-of-fading-photos-gives-it-away-if-you-know-how-to-look/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“Maybe he, like Mum, believed God had delivered three extra children, one-two-three, as a sign of His plan for this couple's long, long friendship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/maybe-he-like-mum-believed-god-had-delivered-three-extra-children-one/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“But even talented people, sooner or later, cracked their heads against their own personal ceilings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/but-even-talented-people-sooner-or-later-cracked-their-heads-against/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [Every good story needs a complication. We learn this fiction-writing fundamental in courses and workshops, by reading a lot or, most painfully, through our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/every-good-story-needs-a-complication-we-learn-this-fiction-writing/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“A single task won't crush your spirit. Give yourself a break”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/a-single-task-won-t-crush-your-spirit-give-yourself-a-break/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“I read with a kind of curious terror, learning that words can pin their readers to place, confer permanence on the ethereal, make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/i-read-with-a-kind-of-curious-terror-learning-that-words-can-pin/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“There is no such thing as wasted writing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/there-is-no-such-thing-as-wasted-writing/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“In they went, over the footbridges to mills flourishing on Chisholm land. “To the Rumford Falls Paper Company, which made—?” “Newsprint!” “And the Rumford…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/in-they-went-over-the-footbridges-to-mills-flourishing-on-chisholm/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [A well-chosen complication should give you choices. Juggling choices for your characters is what makes writing fun, after all. If you discover that you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/a-well-chosen-complication-should-give-you-choices-juggling-choices/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [It's often hard to determine, especially in early drafts, whether or not a story has a bona fide complication. Remember this: A complication must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/it-s-often-hard-to-determine-especially-in-early-drafts-whether-or/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“The shape of our family has been upended and rearranged, its roof flattened, its gateposts ripped from the earth by God's own brutal hand,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/the-shape-of-our-family-has-been-upended-and-rearranged-its-roof/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

> [“A busload of pilgrims today on journeys they never chose, having once believed themselves born for more than this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/a-busload-of-pilgrims-today-on-journeys-they-never-chose-having-once/)

[Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/)

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