“One thing you learn about the novel as a form is that it's always smarter than you are.” Quote by Zadie Smith
“When I was young, I was very technical about these things. I didn't like to admit to any intimate relation with what I was writing.” WritingYoungRelationIntimate Author:Zadie Smith
“It seems to me now that the deep structures [in writing] are often subconscious and set in childhood.” WritingSeemsChildhoodStructureSubconscious Author:Zadie Smith
“For me, [deep structures] might be something very simply to do with the split in my family. That's why I'm always thinking about opposites. It's so childish, really, but that might be simply what it is.” ThinkingMightMy FamilyOppositesStructureSplitsAlways Thinking Author:Zadie Smith
“I never bought the idea of individual genius from which the novel spews forth. It's always an act of curation.” IdeasIndividualNovelGenius Author:Zadie Smith
“I know a lot of people who read and think: "George [Saunders] is so much fun." There's no denying you're fun to read, but as a writer I think of [George Saunders] as, in fact, not a fun and freewheeling type but really an obsessive control artist.” PeopleThinkingKnowsFactsArtistFunTypeObsessive Author:Zadie Smith
“[George Saunders] is very precise about what he is doing. There isn't a thing left to chance.” LeftChancePrecise Author:Zadie Smith
“There's a perception that novels can't usually allow for your kind of absolute attention to detail.” KindAttentionNovelPerceptionAbsolutesDetailsAttention To Detail Author:Zadie Smith
“I was thinking about the generation before us, like John Barth and all of those pomo dudes who had that idea of, instead of hiding the structure and making it look organic and natural, we're going to put the structure on the outside. But most of the time, at least for me, all I could attend to [in Swing Time] was that act of structural self-consciousness.” ThinkingLooksIdeasSelfNaturalConsciousnessGenerationsStructureHidingSwingsSelf Consciousness Author:Zadie Smith
“The young people have a phrase for this now, which is "slay in your lane." That's a very important principle of writing. You have to work out what it is you can't do, obscure it, and focus on what works.” PeopleWritingImportantYoungPrinciplesFocusWork OutPhrasesObscureLanes Author:Zadie Smith