“Let me tell you something about hypochondria: It's a pernicious, undermining little demon. It won't kill you, but it will sap the color from your life so that in the loveliest moments, the moments of grace, you are hit with that whisper in your ear that takes it all away. I'm sick, I'm dying - I just don't know it yet.” KnowsLittlesMomentsGraceDyingColorEarsSickLet MeDemonSapPerniciousUndermining Author:Dani Shapiro
“When I was writing my first novel, I smoked cigarettes. And when I think about what it was like to smoke, I remember exactly the feeling of sitting in front of my big old computer in that little room where I wrote my first novel.” ThinkingWritingFirstsLittlesFeelingsBigsRememberRoomsNovelFrontsComputerSittingSmokeCigarette Author:Dani Shapiro
“I do keep a tiny little journal in which I write passages that I read and want to hold on to. This practice is sort of the opposite of Twitter.” WantWritingLittlesPracticeOppositesTinyPassagesJournal Author:Dani Shapiro
“We're all simultaneously separated and connected by our devices, staring into our little screens, and also hungry for experience and community.” LittlesCommunityConnectedScreensHungryStaringDevices Author:Dani Shapiro
“I've always felt like my nose is pressed to glass. I always feel a little bit like an outsider.” FeelsLittlesFeltBitsLittle BitGlassesNosesOutsiders Author:Dani Shapiro
“It's not gender-specific, but I do think it's women who tend to start having that sort of little whispering voice of "I want more here" and "I want more for my family."” ThinkingWantLittlesVoiceMy FamilyGenderWhispering Author:Dani Shapiro
“This may be a little bit of a provocative thing to say, but the memoirist doesn't owe the reader anything other than a good story and the inclining of the mind in the direction of memory. Of course, the memoirist is not allowed to make things up. But the really skilled memoirist knows what to leave in and what to leave out to serve the story. In autobiography you can't do that.” KnowsMindMayLittlesStoriesCoursesBitsMemoriesReaderLittle BitAutobiographyGood StoryProvocative Author:Dani Shapiro
“A writer with her work needs to be like a dog with a bone all the time. She needs to know where she's hidden it. Where she's stored the good stuff. She needs to keep gnawing at it, even after all the meat seems to be gone. When a student of mine says (okay, whines) that she's impatient, or tired, or the worst: isn't it good enough? this may be harsh, but she loses just a little bit of my respect. Because there is no room for impatience, or exhaustion, or self-satisfaction, or laziness. All of these really mean, simply, that the inner censor has won the day.” KnowsNeedsMayMeanLittlesSelfEnoughSeemsStuffBitsLosesRoomsGoneWorstDogStudentsMinesLittle BitOkayTiredSatisfactionBonesMeatGood EnoughLazinessHarshImpatientImpatienceReally MeanExhaustionSelf-satisfaction Author:Dani Shapiro
