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Jojo Moyes Quotes

Powerful Jojo Moyes for Daily Growth

About Jojo Moyes

Jojo Moyes is a celebrated British novelist known for her poignant and thought-provoking novels that often explore love, loss, and the human spirit. Born on October 4, 1970, in Windsor, England, Moyes grew up in Buckinghamshire, where she developed an early passion for writing. She pursued a degree in English at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Her career began as a journalist, working for The Independent and Indigo Books before becoming a freelancer for the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express. This experience would later inform her novels with their sharp wit, social commentary, and compelling storytelling. Moyes' breakthrough novel, "Me Before You" (2012), became an international bestseller and was adapted into a successful film in 2015. The novel tells the story of Louisa Clark, a small-town girl who becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor, a man left paralyzed after an accident. The narrative explores themes of love, life, and disability with sensitivity and depth. Another notable work is "The Girl You Left Behind" (2012), which was shortlisted for the Richard & Judy Best Book of the Year Award. This novel, set in France during World War I and present-day London, weaves together two love stories separated by a century. Moyes continues to write compelling novels that captivate readers worldwide. Her works are known for their emotional depth, strong female protagonists, and thoughtful exploration of the complexities of human relationships. In addition to her writing career, Moyes is also an active campaigner for animal rights and mental health awareness.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"If you want to know me fully, then you must accept that I am part joy and part sorrow."

This quote by Jojo Moyes suggests that the speaker is a complex individual, with emotions that are not strictly positive or negative. They experience moments of intense happiness (joy) as well as deep sadness (sorrow), reflecting the duality of human nature. Accepting this complexity means recognizing and valuing their full range of feelings, understanding that everyone carries both joy and sorrow within them.

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

This quote emphasizes that it is impossible to alter the past, but we have the power to shape our future. Instead of dwelling on regrets or mistakes from the past, we should focus on making positive changes in the present, thus impacting the course of our lives and ultimately changing the ending for the better.

"The best love stories never have a neat little ending."

This quote suggests that genuine, profound love stories don't typically conclude in a simple, happy-ever-after manner. Instead, they often continue with challenges, growth, and the ebb and flow of human connection throughout life. It underscores the complexity and endurance of real love that isn't defined by perfection but rather by the ability to navigate through adversity together.

"Sometimes, it takes the universe a while to catch up with your mind."

This quote emphasizes the delay between personal growth or understanding, and its eventual manifestation in reality. It suggests that our thoughts, beliefs, or actions can sometimes outpace the pace at which the world around us changes, requiring patience and resilience for the universe to align with our evolving perspectives.

"You know you've truly met a romantic when a simple smile from them makes your day seem like a movie scene and an argument seems like the end of the world."

This quote by Jojo Moyes suggests that a "romantic" person possesses an extraordinary ability to profoundly impact one's emotional state. A simple smile from them can make ordinary moments feel extraordinarily beautiful, as if they were part of a movie scene—a powerful reminder of the joy and magic in everyday life. Conversely, even minor conflicts with such individuals might seem catastrophic, emphasizing their deep impact on our feelings and the intensity of the bond between them.

Rejection is part of the process, so you can't let it crush you. My first three novels never made it into publication, but my fourth, 'Sheltering Rain,' was translated into 11 languages.

- Jojo Moyes

Rain, Process, Languages, Sheltering

I have read books that are so cliched and lazy, my eyes have bled. But I also have read books marketed under the chick-lit umbrella that are so honest, clever and gritty that I've wanted to give up writing and paint walls instead.

- Jojo Moyes

Lazy, Paint, Bled, Cliched

My Writers Guild of America card is one of my proudest possessions. I was given it after being invited to write the script for a film of my last novel, 'Me Before You,' which is being made by MGM. Whenever I look at it, I think, 'I'm a Hollywood writer!'

- Jojo Moyes

Hollywood, I Think, Before, Guild

Novelists seem to fall into two distinct categories - those that plan and those that just see where it takes them. I am very much the former category.

- Jojo Moyes

Very, Novelists, Distinct, Categories

I think there is an awful lot of technology for technology's sake. I have yet to be convinced by my husband that persuading our mobiles to talk to our computers is going to be quicker and more straightforward than scribbling a note in our kitchen diary.

- Jojo Moyes

I Think, Note, Persuading, Kitchen

My go-to winter recipe is beef and butternut squash stew, cooked in the slow oven all day.

- Jojo Moyes

Oven, Stew, Cooked, Squash

I started writing novels by not thinking about actually writing a whole novel - that felt altogether too daunting. I thought out a rough idea, then wrote chapter by chapter, and then by the time I'd hit 40,000 words, it was a challenge just to see if I could get to the end.

- Jojo Moyes

Chapter, Rough, By The Time, Daunting

We want a macho high-earner - with the sensitivity of Gok Wan. We want a man with Brad Pitt's six-pack - but one who's prepared to overlook our own muffin top. No wonder most men don't know if they're coming or going.

- Jojo Moyes

Own, Prepared, Pitt, Sensitivity

I love 'To Kill A Mockingbird' - it seems to offer up new layers every time you read it. I also love Kate Atkinson's 'Behind The Scenes At The Museum' - that's the book that started me writing.

- Jojo Moyes

Love, Book, Behind, Every Time

For every book that I write... I develop a history for each person and make sure they are well rounded and flawed. You have to know everything about them from their shoe size, to where they went to school, to what their first pet was, to what they like to eat, to what they want out of life.

- Jojo Moyes

Book, I Write, About, Shoe

In 'Me Before You,' the two characters popped into my head fully formed, which is really strange and unusual. Other books, I sit on them for two or three months. I have a whole routine: I buy a nice book; I hand-write all their characteristics. I put them through little tests just to see how they would react to things.

- Jojo Moyes

Through, Other, Before, Fully

If chick-lit really is taking a commercial battering, I'd suggest it's because the marketing has been done to death. Covering everything in girlie pink and putting chocolate in the title may once have been a clever Pavlovian device but now makes readers feel a bit sick.

- Jojo Moyes

Pink, Commercial, Been, Device

I always imagined a writer was someone who lived in an attic in Paris, but my mum instilled in me a belief that I could do anything - so I ended up writing my first novel while working nights as a news reporter.

- Jojo Moyes

Mum, Imagined, While, Instilled

What love is depends on where you are in relation to it. Secure in it, it can feel as mundane and necessary as air - you exist within it, almost unnoticing. Deprived of it, it can feel like an obsession; all consuming - a physical pain.

- Jojo Moyes

Love, Pain, Necessary, Deprived

I always say that in any roomful of people, I could hive a novel out of any one person's family or life story.

- Jojo Moyes

Always, Could, Hive, Life Story

Writers divide fairly cleanly into those who only work through what they hear and those who are more visual. I am the latter, where I lie down on my office floor and play scenes through my head to - cinematically, several times with different elements - to see what works. I can't write a scene until I can see it.

- Jojo Moyes

Play, Through, Works, Different Elements

A stylish person, for me, is one who draws your eye without necessarily being showy; they wear clothes that are beautifully cut, flatter the wearer, and show that they are not impervious to fashion, but not a slave to it either.

- Jojo Moyes

Show, Wear, Cut, Draws

Chick-lit may be staggering on its heels, but women's fiction is alive and kicking.

- Jojo Moyes

Alive, May, Kicking, Staggering

Love is the driver for all great stories: not just romantic love, but the love of parent for child, for family, for country.

- Jojo Moyes

Love, Parent, Country, Love Is

You have to write the story that's at the front of your head. There is no point in trying to write for the market; it won't ring true.

- Jojo Moyes

Ring, Point, Your, No Point

I find my best writing time is actually 6 A.M., before the detritus of the day - the fish fingers and the school uniform and dogs and bills - have had a chance to clog up my brain. I can usually get 500 words done before 7 A.M. But it is difficult, and the Internet, and social networking, are terrible timesucks.

- Jojo Moyes

Best, Before, Had, Terrible

Try to write at least 500 words a day. You may ditch 499 of them tomorrow, but you will still be moving forward.

- Jojo Moyes

Will, May, Still, Ditch

My characters make incomprehensible decisions until you stand in their shoes. Then it makes more sense. Life is very rarely black and white, and most people are trying to do their best. I try not to judge.

- Jojo Moyes

Life, Best, Very, Decisions

The fragrance I always wear is Coco by Chanel. I've worn it for 20 years. It suits me, it's classic, and I like the simplicity of only ever wearing one fragrance.

- Jojo Moyes

Always, Like, Worn, Chanel

If the characters are compelling, readers will follow anywhere.

- Jojo Moyes

Will, Characters, Compelling, Readers

My writing life has included the struggle to bring up three children. What I do three or four times a year is take myself off to a hotel room to unblock a problem.

- Jojo Moyes

Myself, Year, Bring, Included

We seem to live in an age where we are quietly appalled by the idea of appetites, whether they be for sex, food or diamonds.

- Jojo Moyes

Sex, Diamonds, Idea, Appetites

I wrote three books before I got one published. Most writers do. Have faith, and know that with each work you are getting better.

- Jojo Moyes

Work, Before, Wrote, Published

Don't set pen to paper until you know your main characters inside out. Create files detailing their appearances, likes, dislikes, and personal background. You may not use all the information, but it is a crucial step in planning your story.

- Jojo Moyes

Use, Crucial, Main, Pen

I try to read writers who are better than me because it inspires me to be better.

- Jojo Moyes

Better, Than, Read, Inspires

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