“Obviously, there is pleasure in the execution of any sort of art, and using language, as Nabokov felt also, is an exquisite process.” ArtLanguageFeltProcessPleasureExecutionExquisite Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“Writing allows for fictitious voices - the voices of persons unlike myself - that might otherwise be muted.” WritingPersonsMightVoice Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“I don't believe in predestination - except for genetic predilections.” BelieveDon't BelievePredestination Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“I did not consider that I would lead a literary life. I'd thought initially, as a young girl, that I would be a teacher, since I so admired many of my teachers. And though I loved writing, I did not ever think of myself as a writer.” ThinkingWritingWould BeYoungGirlTeacher Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“Each time I undertake to reread Virginia Woolf, I am somewhat baffled by the signature breathlessness and relentlessly "poetic" tone, the shimmering impressionism, so very different from the vivid, precise, magisterial (and often very funny) prose of her contemporary James Joyce.” DifferentContemporaryToneProsePoeticPreciseVividVirginiaSignaturesJoyceBaffledWoolfImpressionism Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“One of the qualities of writing that is not much stressed is its problem-solving aspect, having to do with the presentation of material: how to structure it, what sort of sentences (direct, elliptical, simple or compound, syntactically elaborate), what tone (in art, "tone" is everything), pacing. Paragraphing is a way of dramatization, as the look of a poem on a page is dramatic; where to break lines, where to end sentences.” WayWritingLooksArtEndsProblemLinesSimpleQualityBreakMaterialsPagesAspectDirectStructureSentencesDramaticToneProblem SolvingPresentationStressedCompoundsPacing Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“It's always a challenge to discover the most effective first sentence, and the most effective final sentence, in a chapter for instance, and in the book as a whole.” FirstsBookWholeChallengesFinalsSentencesInstanceChapters Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“It is important for me to discover the ideal title, for without this title the story or novel isn't quite in focus.” ImportantStoriesNovelFocusIdealsTitles Author:Joyce Carol Oates
“Only when you have completed a novel, or a story, can you return to the beginning and revise or rewrite.” StoriesNovelReturn Author:Joyce Carol Oates