#om

As a child. I grew up on a small farm, so I did a lot of drawings of animals, chickens and people. At the bottom of every page, I'd put a strange scribble. I was emulating adult handwriting, though I didn't actually know how to write. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#adult #bottom #chickens #child #did

Before you can write a novel you have to have a number of ideas that come together. One idea is not enough. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#come #enough #idea #ideas #novel

Except that awards are competitive, which is a negative thing, they are wonderful for singling out deserving individuals and bringing their work to the attention of many potential readers who might otherwise have been totally unaware of them. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#awards #been #bringing #competitive #deserving

I think all art comes out of conflict. When I write I am always looking for the dramatic kernel of an event, the junctures of people's lives when they go in one direction, not another. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#am #another #art #comes #conflict

If a book I've committed myself to review turns out to be 'disappointing' I make an effort to present it objectively to the reader, including a good number of excerpts from the text, so that the reader might form his or her own opinion independent of my own. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#committed #disappointing #effort #form #good

If my favorite, most comfortable place is by our fireplace in cold weather, expedient places are on an airplane, in a waiting room or even waiting in line; frequently these days, while on the phone having been 'put on hold.' ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#been #cold #cold weather #comfortable #days

Probably nothing serious or worthwhile can be accomplished without one's willingness to be alone for sustained periods of time, which is not to say that one must live alone, obsessively. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#alone #live #must #nothing #obsessively

Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#essays #exception #i #interesting #me

The cleaning is something I use as a reward if I get some work done. I go into a very happy state of mind when I'm vacuuming. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#done #get #go #happy #i

When I complete a novel I set it aside, and begin work on short stories, and eventually another long work. When I complete that novel I return to the earlier novel and rewrite much of it. In the meantime the second novel lies in a desk drawer. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#aside #begin #complete #desk #drawer