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Quote by Meg Wolitzer

“We do seem, as a culture, to fetishize the "sweep." But I know there's room for "big" short, fierce novels, and "big" solid ones.”

Quote by Meg Wolitzer

Author

Meg Wolitzer is an American author known for her nuanced psychological portrayals and complex portrayals of family relationships. Her works often explore the lives, careers, and personal growth of modern women. Her notable works include 'The Interestings' and 'The Wife'. more

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“Objectifying your own novel while writing it never really helps. Instead, I guess while you're writing you need to think: This is the novel I want to write. And when you're done you need to think: This is what the novel I wanted to write feels like and reads like and looks like. Other people might call it sweeping or small, but it's the book you chose.”

People Thinking Want Needs Feels Writing Looks Book Done Helping Might Wanted Novel Sweeping Objectifying

Author:Meg Wolitzer

“I've been waiting for someone to sign the permission slip for me to write about sex. In the meantime, I've written about sex in all my books anyway.”

Writing Book Sex Waiting Written Slips Permission

Author:Meg Wolitzer

“Though I consider The Chronology of Water to be an anti-memoir for very precise reasons, it is an art form, and thus as open to "critique" as any other art form. Memoir has a form, formal strategies, issues of composition and craft, style, structure, all the elements of fiction or nonfiction or painting or music or what have you.”

Art Reason Form Water Fiction Issues Style Painting Elements Strategy Structure Memoir Crafts Nonfiction Composition Formal Precise Critique Chronology

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“Memoirs have at their heart a content that "happened" to someone in real life. Is that what you are itching at in your question, so that if you are a reviewer or you are writing a critique you might feel as if you are stepping on someone's actual face?”

Ifs Feels Writing Heart Real Might Faces Life Is Happened Real Life Memoir Critique Reviewers Itching

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“On a spectrum of literary productions, memoir is just another form. If the person doing the reviewing or critiquing was ill-educated about literary forms, they could write something dunderheaded about the author or their life (I've seen these and barfed at them), but anyone who is well-practiced and educated in literature - why would they leave that at the door when entering memoir?”

Ifs Writing Wells Persons Form Literature Doors Ill Productions Memoir Educated Entering Spectrum

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“Fiction and poetry expose intimate things from a person's life every bit as much as memoir does, and sometimes more. I don't quite see or live the distinction you are making about the forms.”

Persons Doe Sometimes Form Bits Fiction Memoir Intimate Distinction

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“Poetry, for example, goes so deeply into the space between corporeal affect and deep emotion (even primal in some cases) that, as Emily Dickinson said, it can blow the top of your head off. Poetic language is sometimes misunderstood as "abstract" when in reality, it's precise - precisely the language of emotions and the body.”

Said Sometimes Body Reality Language Space Emotion Cases Example Blow Abstract Poetic Precise Misunderstood Primal Emily Space Between Deep Emotions

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“Underneath the forms of fiction and poetry, you can bet your ass the ground comes from someone's actual life experience.”

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Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“The practice of employing metaphor and image and composition and linguistic choices to move the reader through the content.”

Moving Choices Practice Reader Metaphor Composition Employing

Author:Lidia Yuknavitch

“That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”