When I was in school, I was very much into just sports, mostly basketball, and didn't really see myself as much of a student. But once I got into college, I figured I wasn't going to be play beyond college.… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
I was really drawn to spoken-word style poetry. I loved the rhythms, and for some reason, I was just drawn to this poetry as a way of expressing my feelings, because I didn't have any other outlet. — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
As an author, you go into the school, it gets written about in the paper. It sucks that your book was banned, but you… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
Whenever I teach writing I tell them to never revise as you go. Finish the first draft. This is my writing advice. I can't… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
When you first quit your regular job and you become a full-time writer, you are paralyzed with free time. You have so much free time. When you are at home, you have a guitar. There's a cat. You got to find ways to create an environment when writing is like going to work. Be efficient with the hours you put… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share
I think the world sort of looks to the kids who have potential. These are the kids who are going to do something with… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
I think we all try to figure out ways to ignore the fact that life is about suffering. In the modern world, that's what we're surrounded with. We have all these little tools, such as phones and the Internet, to help us forget about suffering. Whenever you are tired, you don't have to really sit in the abyss of what… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share
Growing up as a mixed-race kid myself, when you are in the middle of it and you're young...you don't think about it consciously. It's… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
A lot of people think that they are really cool because they don't outline. In my writing group, they would say, "I will never outline. I let the characters take me." C'mon, man - I outline the story, but it's only like one page. It's a list of possible reversals in the story, like things where everything will just change… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share
The second book, which was probably more from a professional standpoint - when I read Junot Díaz's Drown, I was like, Oh my god, you can write these stories and people will actually read them beyond your own little community. This guy's book is blowing up and it seems like [he's writing about] the neighborhood that I grew up in.… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share
When I was young, I grew up in a family of working-class people. Not just my parents, but my extended family, as well. — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
Once I got into college, I discovered literature - in particular, multicultural literature. I just started to understand the power of story and narrative,… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
The feeling it gave me was an odd combination of weightless self-pity and excitement. I understood my life was meaningless, and this knowledge freed… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
When I finish a book, I'll go to that file and look through them. And I'll say, these are three that really excite me… — Matt de la Pena Copy Share Image
