“I remember getting my first cell phone in New York, getting into a taxi and thinking "This is the end of solitude in the back of a taxi." What used to happen in the back of a taxi? You looked out the window. My brain has become less able to spend lengths of time without shifting, and I worry about that.” ThinkingFirstsEndsHappensAbleRememberUsedBrainWorryNew YorkSolitudeWindowPhonesCellsLengthShiftingCell PhoneTaxi Author:Dani Shapiro
“Our minds simply don't function in some sort of narrative chronology. I think that one of the great gifts of writing fiction is being able to think about that.” ThinkingWritingMindAbleFictionFunctionNarrativeWriting FictionGreat GiftsChronology Author:Dani Shapiro
“I don't want to lean back into the past, or forward into the future. I don't want to wish the present moment away. The truth is in the present moment. The great paradox is that when I'm really able to do that, time slows down and opens up. Time feels suddenly and inexplicably without end.” WantFeelsEndsMomentsAblePastWishTruth IsDown AndPresent MomentParadoxSlow Down Author:Dani Shapiro
“There's nothing confessional about crafting and shaping a story out of a lived life. In fact, it's quite the opposite - the writer has to be able to transcend the life, to see it as if standing outside of it, in order to be able to make something of it. There's something enormously satisfying and gratifying about crafting something, taking all that chaos and giving it shape.” IfsGivingFactsStoriesAbleOrderShapesStandingOppositesChaosSatisfyingStanding Out Author:Dani Shapiro
“It is only with distance that we are able to turn our powers of observation on ourselves, thus fashioning stories in which we are characters.” CharacterStoriesAbleTurnsDistanceObservation Author:Dani Shapiro
