If you don't think there is magic in writing, you probably won't write anything magical.

The more complex and overwhelming the threat to a protagonist, the better the opportunity for the author to create a compelling conflict and a dramatic resolution.

Faith, Princess," the Prism Cat repeated. "It is a highly underrated weapon against the dark things in this world.

...[Y]ou have an inner strength that makes it possible for you to do things other people couldn't even begin to think of doing.

Let me tell you something you haven't learned yet, something you learn only by living awhile. As you get older, you find that life begins to wear you down. Doesn't matter who you are or what you do, it happens. Experience, time, events - they all conspire against you to steal away your energy, to erode your confidence, to make you question things you wouldn't have given a second thought to when you were young. It happens gradually, a chipping away that you don't even notice at first, and then one day it's there. You wake up and you just don't have the fire anymore." He smiled.

When she cried, he would say, "there is nothing wrong with crying. Your feelings tell you who are. They tell what is important. Don't ever be ashamed of them.

I might add that you change as a person as you grow older, so you change as a writer, too.