12th July 2016 | for Creatives | creative process, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, Donald Maass |
"What gives a story high impact is that which is most personal and passionate in its author. That includes your own fears. They are your compass. They're directing you toward what unsettles. And also to what matters."
"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."
"When other novelists unsettle us, we praise them. Yet when our own writing unsettles us, we worry."
"No art ever came out of not risking your neck."
"Great poetry or even excellent poetry is written by people who are not afraid to reveal their flaws."
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