“When I left the theatre and turned to writing, one of the big pulls was that, unlike the theatre, I didn't have to wait to be hired before I could do my art. That was huge. But you still have to figure out how to support your habit; it's rare and lucky when art pays the bills.” WritingArtStillsBigsLeftWaitingPaySupportFiguresHugeHabitLuckyBillsTheatre Author:Debra Dean
“Before I got my present job, I spent many years teaching writing part-time, so-called, at community colleges and universities. It's academia's version of migrant labor.” WritingYearsJobsCommunityTeachingCollegeLaborUniversityVersionsAcademiaMigrantsPart TimeColleges And UniversitiesCommunity CollegeTeaching Writing Author:Debra Dean
“If you have some other profession that allows you your evenings or weekends, terrific, stick with that. Having a profession other than writing also has the potential side benefit of providing you with material, something to write about.” IfsWritingSidesMaterialsBenefitsSticksProfessionEveningWeekendProvidingTerrific Author:Debra Dean
“I tell my students, if you're interested in marine biology or llama farming, follow that string. Yes, it will probably take you a longer time to write that book, but it's not a race. That's another great thing about being a writer: you don't age out.” IfsWritingBookAgeRaceStudentsGreat ThingsBiologyStringsMarineFarmingMarine BiologyLlamas Author:Debra Dean
“I loved short stories, and they were all I wanted to write. I love the compression of them and the exactitude needed to get a whole world into such a small space.” WorldWritingWholeStoriesWantedSpaceNeededWhole WorldShort StorySmall SpacesCompressionExactitude Author:Debra Dean
“I think I was also afraid of the novel. I write line by line, proceeding at snail's pace, rewriting as I go and paring the excess away. This is against all the best advice for writing long form prose, and I have tried over the years to break myself of the habit, but I can't bear to leave anything ungainly on the page and half the fun for me is that tinkering. So the length of a novel was a daunting prospect.” ThinkingWritingYearsLongI CanFormFunLinesHalfBreakNovelAdviceBearsHabitPagesProseLengthPaceExcessProceedingBest AdviceAll The BestRewritingSnailTinkering Author:Debra Dean
“I kept writing short stories and sending out my manuscript, and it kept coming back like a bad penny. It was rejected all over town, quite often in very complimentary terms, but rejected nonetheless. Agents would return it saying that they loved it but didn't think they could sell it, or they would ask if I could change the collection into linked stories.” IfsThinkingWritingStoriesAsksTermReturnTownsSellsAgentsIf I CouldCollectionsShort StoryRejectedLinkedComing BackPenniesManuscriptsWriting ShortWriting Short Stories Author:Debra Dean
“Once I had started, I discovered the secret pleasure of writing a novel. It's such an immersive, deep commitment. With short stories, you're continually having to start again from scratch, but with a novel you only need one good idea every few years.” NeedsWritingYearsIdeasStoriesPleasureSecretNovelCommitmentShort StoryGood IdeasScratches Author:Debra Dean
“The trajectory of my writing has moved further and further away from autobiography. My first stories in Confessions of a Falling Woman worked familiar territory - places I had lived, people I knew, my life as an actor in New York - and many were prompted by or grounded in personal experience.” PeopleWritingFirstsStoriesFallActorsNew YorkMovedFamiliarTerritoryConfessionAutobiographyGroundedPersonal ExperiencesTrajectory Author:Debra Dean
“If you had told me twenty years ago that I would write a novel set in Russia, much less two, I simply wouldn't have believed you. I had no familiarity with Russia or its history, but part of what drives me as a reader, and more and more as a writer, is curiosity, the desire to explore unfamiliar terrain and inhabit alternate lives.” IfsWritingYearsTwoDesireNovelReaderYears AgoTwentiesCuriosityRussiaFamiliarityUnfamiliarTerrain Author:Debra Dean
“One of the nice things about moving from acting to writing is that your work can be in the public eye without having to be in the public eye yourself. I guess that's not completely true. If you're lucky - and I have been - there are book tours and lectures. I don't have stage fright, and I enjoy meeting people, so that's easy and enjoyable, but it's not a constant, and it's not celebrity.” PeopleIfsWritingHas BeensBookEyeMovingEasyEnjoyActingNiceStageLuckyConstantMeetingsLecturesEnjoyableNice ThingsFrightPublic EyeStage Fright Author:Debra Dean
“I just can't fathom tweeting, and I'd rather spend my time writing a book than a blog, but I rather grudgingly agreed to a Facebook page. I had a brief, intense romance with Facebook. It's weirdly addictive, but anything that time-sucking is a danger for a writer who writes as slowly as I do. Now I post only occasionally and nothing very confessional. I think I'm carbon dating myself as I speak.” ThinkingWritingBookRomanceSpeakDangerPagesDatingIntensePostsMy TimeCarbonBlogsWriting A BookFathomFacebook Page Author:Debra Dean
“I always think, OK, this is good, but I'll do it better next time. "And so we beat on, boats against the current. . ." It may not be the recipe for a life of contentment, but that imperfectability is what makes writing such an engaging endeavor, something you can do for the rest of your life and not get bored.” ThinkingWritingMayNextCan DoBeatsCurrentsBoatBoredContentmentEndeavorNext TimeEngagingRecipesRest Of Your Life Author:Debra Dean
