I really can’t write fantasy. I cannot invent a world which does not exist. And I can’t read fantasy either. As soon as I realise I’m reading a book that hasn’t got its roots in a reality I can comprehend, I switch off. – Michael Morpurgo
Paying more heed to the lessons of the past might teach us to be a little more cautious about some of the political decisions taken today. – Michael Morpurgo
If I’m serious, yes, I’d like to have done what Shakespeare did… to act and write. You learn so much from acting. One of our great writers, Alan Bennett, does both supremely well. When I write a story, I tend to speak it aloud as I’m writing it. – Michael Morpurgo
Encouraging young people to believe in themselves and find their own voice whether it’s through writing, drama or art is so important in giving young people a sense of self-worth. – Michael Morpurgo
Much that is great in literature is an acquired taste, and you have to acquire it in the first place. Our job as parents is essentially to pass on the enthusiasm we had for the things we loved. That’s how we’ll get them to fall in love with reading in the first place and, hopefully, to stay in love with it. – Michael Morpurgo
I was an overly young father, is the most polite way of putting it. I think I was rather immature and all I can say is that I think I’ve made a much better grandfather… I don’t think I was ready to be a father to be honest. – Michael Morpurgo
We all know that the great memories of our childhood are the little triumphs – it doesn’t really matter whether that was in writing, art, on the hockey field or on the football field. It’s something that makes you feel – ‘I can do this stuff.’ – Michael Morpurgo
When children are very young, you read them books that are positive to help them go to sleep. But there comes a moment when they begin to understand the difficulties of the world. They know there are problems and the books they read should reflect that, not gloss over them. – Michael Morpurgo
I become my characters, and then try to allow events in the story to take their own course. I try not to play God, but to let them work out their own destiny. – Michael Morpurgo
Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it! – Michael Morpurgo
Read a lot – poems, prose, stories, newspapers, anything. Read books and poems that you think you will like and some that you think might not be for you. You might be surprised. – Michael Morpurgo
When I write I try as far as possible to forget I’m writing it at all. I tell it down onto the page, as if I’m telling it to one person only, my best friend. – Michael Morpurgo
The most important thing is to live an interesting life. Keep your eyes, ears and heart open. Talk to people and visit interesting places, and don’t forget to ask questions. To be a writer you need to drink in the world around you so it’s always there in your head. – Michael Morpurgo
You get to about 65 or 70 and you lose friends and the world does seem to be an endlessly difficult place and tragic place, so it’s more and more difficult for me to find the bright lights. – Michael Morpurgo
Marry someone who flatters you. Because I’ve written 80 books since ‘War Horse’ but when my wife reads one, all she says is, ‘It’s quite good, but it’s not as good as ‘War Horse,’ is it?’ – Michael Morpurgo
Children have to be motivated to want to learn to read. Reading must not be taught simply as a school exercise. – Michael Morpurgo
It is the child’s understanding that teaches the adults the way of the future. They’re still doing it today with modern technology. – Michael Morpurgo
Don’t worry about writing a book or getting famous or making money. Just lead an interesting life. – Michael Morpurgo
By the time I sit down and face the blank page I am raring to go. I tell it as if I’m talking to my best friend or one of my grandchildren. – Michael Morpurgo
You know, I really wish now I’d had the nerve to become an actor. Because I’d have been Robert Redford, no question. – Michael Morpurgo
Perhaps it is partly that we need to love books ourselves as parents, grandparents and teachers in order to pass on that passion for stories to our children. It’s not about testing and reading schemes, but about loving stories and passing on that passion to our children. – Michael Morpurgo
I was never a great reader, but there were two stories I loved best: Kipling’s ‘The Elephant’s Child’ and ‘The Jungle Book.’ Deep down, I’ve always wanted to write a book about a wild child and an elephant. – Michael Morpurgo
It’s good to focus on the universal suffering that goes on in any war. Whatever the right and wrongs of the war, there is always universal suffering. – Michael Morpurgo
I got married young, far too young, but it is fine. We are still married 48 years later. I got married at 19. – Michael Morpurgo
The big relationships you make in your life are with those that you love and if things do go wrong then it’s a source of great pain and that lasts. – Michael Morpurgo
When I was growing up in the Forties and Fifties, you could hide your children from the difficulties of life, but today you can’t separate children’s contact with the adult world today. – Michael Morpurgo
It is really important that focusing on things such as spelling, punctuation, grammar and handwriting doesn’t inhibit the creative flow. When I was at school there was a huge focus on copying and testing and it put me off words and stories for years. – Michael Morpurgo