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Quote by Ben Fountain

“I quit law in 1988 to start writing, and it took me 17 years from that point to get a book contract. I guess you can say I was on the slow train.”

Quote by Ben Fountain

Author

Ben Fountain is an American fiction writer known for his distinctive narrative style and profound insights into American Southern culture. His works often focus on the complex relationships between individuals and society, history, and reality, particularly in depicting the impact of war and conflict on individuals. more

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“I thought when I started writing that I'd have a book out in four or five years, and as it became apparent that that wasn't going to happen, I became increasingly frustrated and unsure of myself.”

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“I started publishing stories in small magazines early on, but after seven or eight or nine years you feel like you need a little more than that to show for your efforts.”

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“By the end of the first decade of writing, I considered myself a confirmed failure in the eyes of the world.”

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“I really had to decide why I was writing. I had no interest in going back to law; I very briefly - for about six hours - considered going to get my MBA, but in the end, I realized that the only work I really wanted to do was write.”

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“If you want to write, then write; if you don't want to write, then don't write. I fell into the former category, and I just made the decision that I'd keep on because I liked it and might someday do something decent.”

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“The funny thing is, about the time I let go of any aspiration toward worldly success, that's about the time I started writing decent work.”

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“It took me 10 years to write a story that pleased me - that I could look at after it was published and not cringe.”

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“I kept going back while I was writing the novel - which never sold, may it rest in peace - and by the time it was finished I had too many connections to Haiti to walk away.”

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“It's amazing what happens when you stick yourself in a place and let things take their more or less natural course.”

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“Haiti is unique - the first successful slave revolt in history, the first black republic etc., and then when you get into the culture, the voodoo, and that wonderful synchretization of Christian and African belief and symbology, it's like nothing the world has ever seen.”

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