“I think it's harder than ever to be an artist. I think that you end up, especially as a middle-aged person, you pay such big consequences for saying, 'I'm just going to devote my life to making art,' or 'I'm going to devote my life to writing novels.' You end up with no resources.” ThinkingWritingPersonsArtEndsBigsArtistPayNovelMiddleConsequenceResourcesHarderMiddle Aged Author:Dana Spiotta
“People think it's suspect and self-indulgent to make art, and I don't think that's true. Some people think you should be busy making something that you can sell in the marketplace, and if nobody wants to buy it, it must be crap. And that's not true.” PeopleIfsThinkingWantShouldArtSelfSellsBusySuspectsCrapMarketplaceSelf Indulgent Author:Dana Spiotta
“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
“I always think the novelist should go to the culture's dark places and poke around. Pose a lot of hard questions.” ThinkingShouldHardCultureDarkNovelistsPokeDark PlacesHard Questions Author:Dana Spiotta
“I think there's a lot to be learned from pop culture. But at the same time I see the dangers of using it in an exclusive way to construct meaning in your life.” ThinkingWayCultureDangerPopsConstructsExclusivePop Culture Author:Dana Spiotta
“For me writing is an organic process that starts with engaging the language and then thinking about the structure of the novel as you move along. Especially in revision you start to notice correlations. Things come up, not self-consciously, because you're busy feeling your way through sentences and trying to push the language into new places.” ThinkingWayWritingTryingSelfFeelingsMovingLanguageProcessNovelStructureBusyCome UpSentencesEngagingRevisionCorrelationNew Places 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
“I am, it seems, interested in people with multiple identities. I think we all have multiple identities.” PeopleThinkingSeemsIdentityMultipleMultiple Identities Author:Dana Spiotta
“I think most writers have to have a practice of writing. For me it is very early in the morning. I try to make it a separate world from the rest of my life.” ThinkingWorldWritingTryingPracticeMorning Author:Dana Spiotta
“My teaching forces me to articulate what I think works in a piece of fiction and how I think it works. All of that gives me energy as a writer.” ThinkingGivingEnergyForceFictionPiecesTeachingGive Me Author:Dana Spiotta
“The novel is about, for me, sustained and organized looking. I do think that people have a hunger for a sustained engagement, that concentration that the book can offer.” PeopleThinkingBookNovelOffersHungerOrganizedConcentrationEngagement Author:Dana Spiotta
