Ann Hood
"I'm also a writer who really likes to think before I write. So many writers, especially new writers, are so quick to the page, and I feel like there's great value in letting the idea turn over a lot."
— Ann Hood
"Read, and not 'how to' books, but literature. I think a lot of 'how to' books really give bad advice or the wrong advice. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not going to make you a writer."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | reading, literary fiction, writing, Ann Hood
"I think a lot of new writers stop with the joy part. They've written this, and it was so exciting, and it's so messy and flawed and glorious, and that's one-tenth of what you have to do."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | creating isn't easy, the successful artist, writing, Ann Hood
"I think the word is fearless because once writers start editing how they do what they do or what they're writing about, I think you've already lost what you need to be doing. So I think being a writer is emotionally brave, and if you can't go there, maybe you're not ready to do it yet."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | artist integrity, creative fear, writing, editing, Ann Hood, value the art
"I say this with great honesty: I always approach a book by writing about the thing that keeps me up at night. What is really waking me up or keeping me from falling asleep? What am I grappling with? And then I think, I cannot be the only one on this planet thinking about this right now. I can't be the only one worried about this. I start with whatever that experience is, and I just keep peeling it until it's more of the raw experience, and that's where I think fiction steps in."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | creative process, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, reaching your audience, Ann Hood
"I think being a writer is emotionally brave, and if you can't go there, maybe you're not ready to do it yet."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | creating isn't easy, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Ann Hood
"It's so easy to think about writing; so easy to talk about it; and it's so easy to avoid it. But a bit part of it is getting the writer to sit and do what they're supposed to do."
— Ann Hood
"[The airplane pilot] said, 'Why do you think I do this job? It's for the seven minutes of takeoff and the 11 minutes of landing. The computer does the rest.' And to me, that's like writing. You do it because you get this great idea, and you have the excitement of the first draft, but most of it is revision, and doing the wrong stuff, and fixing and fixing. And then, you get the landing. It's very much the same."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | creative process, writing, editing, rewriting, Ann Hood
"Eudora Welty said something to the effect of: 'All a writer has to do is sit on her own front porch.' But I was thinking: 'I'll go run with the bulls; I'm going to dance in fountains."
— Ann Hood
for Creatives | writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, Ann Hood, Eudora Welty