β
          Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.
          β
          β
         
        Neil Gaiman
       
        
          β
          All I need is a sheet of paper
and something to write with, and then
I can turn the world upside down.
          β
          β
         
        Friedrich Nietzsche
       
        
          β
          I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol.
          β
          β
         
        Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo)
       
        
          β
          He hung up on me.
I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled Jerk on the first line. One the line beneath it, I added, Smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon. Excellent physical shape.
I immediately scribbled over the last observation until it was illegible.
          β
          β
         
        Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1))
       
        
          β
          Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn't it wonderful? Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new!
A new year ... a fresh, clean start! It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy ... let's go exploring!
          β
          β
         
        Bill Watterson (It's a Magical World (Calvin and Hobbes, #11))
       
        
          β
          I stared at the phone in disbelief, then ripped a clean sheet of paper from my notebook. I scribbled ' Jerk ' on the first line. On the line beneath it I added, ' Smokes cigars. Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon.
          β
          β
         
        Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1))
       
        
          β
          Suicide. It's something I've been thinking about. Not too seriously, but I have been thinking about it.β 
That's the note. Word for word. And I know it's word for word because I wrote it dozens of times before delivering it. I'd write it, throw it away, write it, crumple it up, throw it away.
But why was I writing it to begin with? I asked myself that question every time I printed the words onto a new sheet of paper. Why was I writing this note? It was a lie. I hadn't been thinking about it. Not really. Not in detail. The thought would come into my head and I'd push it away.
But I pushed it away a lot.
          β
          β
         
        Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why)
       
        
          β
          Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores. It has features. This book can go under the microscope. Youβd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion. The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more βliteraryβ you are. Thatβs my definition anyway. Telling detail. Fresh detail. The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies. So now you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life.
          β
          β
         
        Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451)
       
        
          β
          I⦠What are you saying, Zsadist?" she stammered, even though she'd heard every word.
He glanced back down at the pencil in his hand and then turned to the table. Flipping the spiral notebook to a new page, he bent way over and labored on top of the paper for quite a while. Then he ripped the sheet free.
His hand was shaking as he held it out. "It's messy."
Bella took the paper. In a child's uneven block letters there were three words: I LOVE YOU
Her lips flattened tight as her eyes stung. The handwriting got wavy and then disappeared.
Β 
"Maybe you can't read it," he said in a small voice. "I can do it over."
Β 
She shook her head. "I can read it just fine. It's⦠beautiful."
"I don't expect anything back. I mean⦠I know that you don't⦠feel that for me anymore. But I wanted you to know. It's important that you knew.
          β
          β
         
        J.R. Ward (Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #3))
       
        
          β
          She glanced up at him, and in that moment he pulled his wet shirt over his head. She forced her mind blank. Blank as a new sheet of paper, blank as a starless sky. He came to the fire and crouched before it. He rubbed the water from his bare arms and flicked it in the flames. She stared at the goose and sliced his drumstick carefully and thought of the blankest expression on the blankest face she could possibly imagine. It was a chilly evening; she thought about that. The goose would be delicious, they must eat as much of it as possible, they must not waste it; she thought about that.
          β
          β
         
        Kristin Cashore (Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1))