Writing Quotes by Roxane Gay

“I lost my voice, but I had words.”

— Roxane Gay

“I am still writing my way toward a place where I fit.”

— Roxane Gay

I am trying to keep growing and improving as a writer.

— Roxane Gay

I write because I love doing it.

— Roxane Gay

I look at my older writing to see where my weaknesses are and then I try to address those weaknesses and make…

— Roxane Gay

I don't want the whole of my writing or my intellectual energy given over to race because I have diverse interests.

— Roxane Gay

“I often say that reading and writing saved my life. I mean that quite literally.”

— Roxane Gay

I write toward both idealism and reality - how things are and how I wish they could be.

— Roxane Gay

Just write and love what you're writing. And if you're not loving what you're writing, take a look at why and fix…

— Roxane Gay

I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself and I get to make up the rules of the world that…

— Roxane Gay

Most of the time, writing is a lot of fun, and not a small amount of self-medication.

— Roxane Gay

“Girls is a fine example of someone writing what she knows and the painful limitations of doing so.”

— Roxane Gay

“I want characters to do bad things and get away with their misdeeds. I want characters to think ugly thoughts and make…

— Roxane Gay

A lot of ink is given over to mythologizing female friendships as curious, fragile relationships that are always intensely fraught. Stop reading…

— Roxane Gay

It's gut instinct that helps me determine how to write a story. I love the surreal because I am faced with the…

— Roxane Gay

I probably write the same story a hundred different ways. I suppose right now I am looking for the 101st different way…

— Roxane Gay

With my writing, I generally just pretend that no one's reading it. I allow myself that delusion so that I can write…

— Roxane Gay

I am fine with my books being categorized as African-American literature but I hope they are also considered Haitian-American literature and American…

— Roxane Gay

My dream was to write a book and see it published. I didn't dare imagine anything beyond that, so, I'm trying to…

— Roxane Gay

I write for myself, first and foremost and I also write for people, mostly women, who just want to be seen and…

— Roxane Gay

Definitely, there is a sense in my writing that people now know me in a personal way. And to an extent, that's…

— Roxane Gay

“I embrace the label of bad feminist because I am human. I am messy. I’m not trying to be an example. I…

— Roxane Gay

I am human. I am messy. I'm not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am…

— Roxane Gay

Writing has always allowed me to escape. I was a very lonely child. Because I was very socially awkward, I would always…

— Roxane Gay

I wrote myself back together. I wrote myself toward a stronger version of myself . . . Through writing and feminism, I…

— Roxane Gay

I tend to write three to four hours a day, depending - oftentimes very late at night. When I write on Twitter,…

— Roxane Gay

I thought a lot about how so many memoirs about fatness focus on weight loss; they don't focus on living with weight…

— Roxane Gay

When I'm editing my work, I'm looking for everything to fit, to feel seamless, for every detail or line of dialogue or…

— Roxane Gay

“Narratives about certain experiences are somehow legitimized when mediated through a man’s perspective. Consider the work of John Updike or Richard Yates.…

— Roxane Gay

It is deeply unfair to task writers of color with unique responsibilities that we don't assign to all writers.

— Roxane Gay

I read constantly because there is so much to learn from the writing in the world.

— Roxane Gay

Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.

— Roxane Gay

“One of the many things I have always loved about writing, not to be confused with publishing, is that all you need…

— Roxane Gay

I live in the middle of nowhere and I'm an insomniac. I just make the time and I read and write really…

— Roxane Gay

Everyone else thinks I'm a nonfiction writer. I think it's because my nonfiction is easier to find. But I write both in…

— Roxane Gay

When I write on Twitter, I do other things: I'm working, grading, or reading, and I'm procrastinating, and I'll pop on Twitter…

— Roxane Gay

“I was a little resentful that when a woman writes, her personal story becomes part of the story, even though the novel…

— Roxane Gay

“I often tell my students that fiction is about desire in one way or another. The older I get, the more I…

— Roxane Gay

The actual act of writing brings me such pleasure - to tell stories, to engage in cultural criticism, to reflect, to question,…

— Roxane Gay

“I am nowhere near as brave as people believe me to be. As a writer, armed with words, I can do anything,…

— Roxane Gay