“The idea that you can live off the grid and just do your own thing is a very American idea - that you should be able to do your own thing, if you want to, if you're willing to pay the price for it. I think the price has gotten higher and higher.” IfsThinkingWantShouldIdeasAblePayWillingHigherPay The PriceGrids Author:Dana Spiotta
“If you directly try to write about an idea, it will never be what you imagined. But if you're imagining through the building of sentences, through the characters, and paying attention to avoid ease and comfort yet still thinking about making the sentences work, you will get a shot at some real interesting stuff.” IfsThinkingWritingTryingStillsIdeasRealCharacterStuffInterestingAttentionBuildingComfortShotsSentencesPay AttentionEaseInteresting Stuff Author:Dana Spiotta
“I think there's a false division people sometimes make in describing literary novels, where there are people who write systems novels, or novels of ideas, and there are people who write about emotional things in which the movement is character driven. But no good novels are divisible in that way.” PeopleThinkingWayWritingIdeasSometimesCharacterNovelMovementEmotionalDrivenDivisionDescribingEmotional Things Author:Dana Spiotta
“There are lots of authentic, moving characters in so-called systems novels, just as there are certainly deep structural ideas in some character-driven novels.” IdeasCharacterMovingNovelDriven Author:Dana Spiotta
“I like to mix the real and the imaginary. Sometimes it is characters inspired by real people I know or know of. Sometimes it is a named person from the common cultural dreamscape. And it is tricky, because they have a lot of associated ideas that come with them, and a lot of actual facts.” PeopleKnowsPersonsIdeasRealSometimesCharacterFactsCommonInspiredImaginaryTricky Author:Dana Spiotta
