“You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”

American science fiction and speculative fiction author

Octavia E. Butler was an American science fiction and speculative fiction author. She won the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards, and in 1995 became the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Her work helped define modern speculative fiction, and she is especially known for writing that brought discipline and force to the genre. The record here shows 113 quotes from her.