#writ

If you are a writer you locate yourself behind a wall of silence and no matter what you are doing, driving a car or walking or doing housework you can still be writing, because you have that space. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#behind #car #doing #driving #housework

Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn't have the personality of a politician. We don't see the world that simply. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#complex #life #people #personality #politician

A writer can't subtract or excise any of his/her past because doing so would erase the work produced during that time. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#because #doing #during #erase #her

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

As a teacher at Princeton, I'm surrounded by people who work hard so I just make good use of my time. And I don't really think of it as work - writing a novel, in one sense, is a problem-solving exercise. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#good #hard #i #just #make

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

Criticism is, for me, like essay writing, a wonderful way of relaxation; it doesn't require a heightened and mediated voice, like prose fiction, but rather a calm, rational, even conversational voice. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#conversational #criticism #essay #even #fiction

Honorary degrees and lifetime achievement awards are very encouraging. I know that it might sound strange that a writer who has published many books still needs encouragement, but this is true. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#awards #books #degrees #encouragement #encouraging

I probably spend 90% of my time revising what I've written. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#my time #probably #revising #spend #time

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