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Quote by Molly Antopol

“With the Holocaust - I wonder if a lot of Jewish writers of my generation have felt this way - it feels really intimidating to approach it. I feel like so many writers who have either lived through it firsthand or were part of that generation where they were closer to the people who were in it have written so beautifully about it, so there's no lack of great books about it”

Quote by Molly Antopol

Author

Molly Antopol is an American fiction writer born in 1979. Her works are known for their delicate emotions and profound insights into themes such as identity, culture, and social change. more

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“It really made me nervous to write about it [Holocaust] and to approach it, because I was nervous about how to do it respectfully, and I was also thinking about how I could add something new to something that had already been so explored.”

Thinking Writing Made Approach Add Nervous Something New Holocaust

Author:Molly Antopol

“The Israel stories were really hard for me to write, because I think that my book is very much about politics, but it isn't political. It really was important for me to not have a political agenda at all, because I have a hard time stomaching any political fiction that feels message-y.”

Thinking Feels Writing Important Book Hard Stories Political Fiction Messages Israel Hard Times Agendas Political Agendas

Author:Molly Antopol

“It was tricky [to write about Israelis], because everyone has an opinion about the Arab - Israeli conflict, and when I first started writing these stories, I was working for an Arab - Israeli human rights group. It was during the Second Intifada. It was this totally violent and intense time, and I think there's a part of me where I don't know how to write about that situation without getting my politics out of my messages, and that's something that was important for me not to do in this book.”

Thinking Knows Writing Firsts Humans Important Book Stories Situation Opinion Know How Rights Groups Conflict Messages Human Rights Violent Intense Israeli Tricky Arab Israeli Conflict

Author:Molly Antopol

“I'm not Israeli and because I'm not a citizen, it doesn't matter how often I go there - I'm still not Israeli. There's this way I feel so close to so many people there, but I always feel like I'm staring through the glass. And in a way, having this really thin piece of glass between me and this place is incredibly useful for me as a writer, because I'm just so hyper-aware of it. I could take a walk in San Francisco and probably notice a third of the things that I would notice in Israel, because I'm just attuned to everything when I'm there.”

People Way Feels Stills Matter Walks Pieces Citizens Thirds Glasses Israel Staring San Francisco Israeli Hyper

Author:Molly Antopol

“So if there was a way that I knew something about my character's desires or the things that they were resisting because I was saving it for some grand epiphany moment for my readers, I just feel like that's when you can feel the machine at work in a story. That's when you can feel the writer pulling the strings of the puppet.”

Ifs Way Feels Moments Character Stories Desire Reader Machines Saving Strings Pulling Puppets Resisting Epiphany

Author:Molly Antopol

“So in the drafting process, whenever I would discover something about what my character wanted or didn't want, I immediately just wanted my character to admit to that so I could get to the next, more interesting level in the story.”

Want Character Stories Wanted Next Process Interesting Levels Drafting

Author:Molly Antopol

“I felt like if I could get the epiphany out of the way in my drafting process, through my eighth or tenth draft, then that can just be part of how I've assembled the character, and then we can move on and move forward with it. In general, I don't ever want to feel smarter than my characters, because I just feel like that's not a great way to write a story.”

Ifs Way Want Feels Writing Character Stories Moving Felt Process Moving Forward If I Could Smarter Epiphany Drafting

Author:Molly Antopol

“Fire and Water are archetypes, the split sides of consciousness; one aware, the other, not. The two parts of us that desire synthesis, yet resist it: the self and the shadow. But they are also the element of chance, of the random roll of dice.”

Two Self Desire Sides Water Chance Consciousness Fire Elements Shadow Splits Dice Archetype Synthesis

Author:Chris Abani

“The greatest thing about form and convention is that it saves you from having to reinvent the wheel. Now, whether you mount the wheel to a horse carriage or a Formula One racing car, make it plain or give it spinning rims, those are all craft decisions. But the fact of the wheel remains: it will turn if you set it down. That's what I mean about the beauty of the gifts genre can offer.”

Ifs Giving Mean Facts Form Turns Decision Car Offers Horse Remains Crafts Genre Wheels Formulas Racing Conventions Spinning Carriages Race Car Rims Formula One

Author:Chris Abani

“Fiction is more dangerous than nonfiction because it can seduce better. I think we all know this, know that deeper truths can be approached in fiction than in fact. There are risks for the reader, because after reading certain books you find you have changed irreversibly. There are risks for writers: in China, now, and Ethiopia and other countries right now, writers face real persecution.”