Maggie Shipstead takes hold of the reader and doesn't let go. Astonish Me is a haunting, powerful novel. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
If you write memoir, it can't be about blame or hurt; it has to be creative. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
When it comes to the personal essays I write, I just convince myself that no one will ever read them. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I never feel so alive as when I'm writing and the work is going well. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
How do we live the writer's life? There's only one simple answer: 'we write.' — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
When I sit down with my notebook, when I start scribbling words across the page, I find out what I'm feeling. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
When I was writing my first novel, I smoked cigarettes. And when I think about what it was like to smoke, I… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I don't think it's possible to separate out the strands of a writer's history, circumstances, life events, and that writer's themes. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
There's a danger in romanticizing what it means to be a writer. Because what it really means is hard, hard work. It… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
My journals were a clearing house - a garbage can. Once I was writing seriously, I understood that this was the stuff… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
If there's anything weirder than an introverted writer going to lots of social functions, it's an introverted writer being converted into an… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“To forget oneself-to lose oneself in the music, in the moment- that kind of absorption seems to be at the heart of… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
Novels are my favorite to write and read. I do like writing personal essays, too. I'm not really a short story writer,… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
It's essential to have sacred time for writing. All successful authors have some daily commitment to keep on-track and moving forward. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
Writing well involves walking the path of most resistance. Sitting still, being patient, allowing the lunatic dream to take shape on the… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“Write the words "The FIve Senses" on an index card and tack it to a bulletin board above your desk. You should… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
There's nothing confessional about crafting and shaping a story out of a lived life. In fact, it's quite the opposite - the… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
If I waited to be in the mood to write, I'd barely have a chapbook of material to my name. Who would… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
With tremendous clarity and wisdom, Daniel Tomasulo has crafted a memoir at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Layers of time and memory—childhood, adolescence,… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
The writing life requires courage, patience, persistence, empathy, openness, and the ability to deal with rejection. It requires the willingness to be… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“I've never heard a writer feel that way about a device with a screen. Oh sure, they're functional, practical. We would be… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
This may be a little bit of a provocative thing to say, but the memoirist doesn't owe the reader anything other than… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
A writer with her work needs to be like a dog with a bone all the time. She needs to know where… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“Still writing?" I usually nod and smile, then quickly change the subject. But here is what I would like to put down… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“When writers who are just starting out ask me when it gets easier, my answer is never. It never gets easier. I… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I knew I wanted to be a writer before I knew that being a writer was possible. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I think there's something about a writer's disposition, that is, even if unaware, always slightly in a witness state. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I'm a full-time writer, which means I have the entire day to get my work done. But that can also be bad,… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“The writer’s life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
Writing has been my window-flung wide open to this magnificent, chaotic existence-my way of interpreting everything within my grasp. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I never troll for material. It simply presents itself, and is always unmistakable. This is why I want to roll my eyes… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
When I was growing up, I had no idea that I could possibly become a writer. I wrote endlessly in journals -… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
I think so much about how we read, about the nature of solitude, and of community, is changing in ways that none… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
Confidence is highly overrated when it comes to creating literature. A writer who is overly confident will not engage in the struggle… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
There is no end to the promotion. There is no end to the possibilities. You can continue to promote a book for… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
You have to believe in yourself before the world has given you any indication that you should believe in yourself as a… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
When a writer's whole being is poured into a piece of work, there is never enough. The feeling of finally getting to… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share Image
“The writer’s life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
I never troll for material. It simply presents itself, and is always unmistakable. This is why I want to roll my eyes when people… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
I had never really felt settled in Brooklyn. I think it had to do with growing up in New Jersey and being someone who… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
When I near the end of a book, it feels as if the entire universe meets me more than halfway and supports me. The… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
Everything changes. The more I try to hold on to the moment, the more it slips through my fingers. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
There is no end to the promotion. There is no end to the possibilities. You can continue to promote a book for years, literally. — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
A writer with her work needs to be like a dog with a bone all the time. She needs to know where she's hidden… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
“Oh, child! Somewhere inside you, your future has already unfurled like one of those coiled-up party streamers, once shiny, shaken loose, floating gracefully for… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
I do strongly identify with being Jewish. I was raised Orthodox and had a childhood complicated by the fact that my father was deeply… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
The fact is that most husbands, regardless of religion - it's an old-fashioned gender divide where the husband wants to stay home and the… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
Novels are my favorite to write and read. I do like writing personal essays, too. I'm not really a short story writer, nor do… — Dani Shapiro Copy Share
