Jeff Vandermeer
Jeff Vandermeer
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" VanderMeeris an American New York Times Best Selling writer, editor, teacher, and publisher. He has won the Nebula Award, Rhysling Award, British Fantasy Award, BSFA Award, the World Fantasy Award three times, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Award...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth7 July 1968
CountryUnited States of America
meaningful dream character
A dream inspiring a story is different than placing a description of a dream in a story. When you describe a character's dream, it has to be sharper than reality in some way, and more meaningful. It has to somehow speak to plot, character, and all the rest. If you're writing something fantastical, it can be a really deadly choice because your story already has elements that can seem dreamlike.
character thinking issues
One thing about beginning writers is that they don't really always know their own strengths and weaknesses - you might think you're bad at characterization, but that might really be because of some issue you're having with another element, which is making it hard for you to express character in a convincing way.
character editors trying
I see music as an aid. It overcomes my internal editor, especially when the music evokes the character or the mood I'm trying to build.
mean interesting mind
I like delivering a message, but what I find interesting is providing those details in a different context. Then the readers can make up their minds what it means.
jumping people risk
I also am not particularly risk-averse - I don't mind jumping off a cliff if I trust the people who've told me they'll catch me at the bottom.
important fiction might
Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never otherwise meet and talk do so because of our anthologies.
book writing thinking
The best visual book I can think of is Lynda Barry's What It Is, but although I refer to it all the time it's not a creative writing book per se.
dream inspiration mean
Even a dream as inspiration doesn't mean anything unless you then find that it's sparked an actual story with a plot.
mom artist fiction
My mom is an artist and my own fiction is deeply visual.
book reading kind
If the reader enters a kind of immersive experience reading a book, then I have to enter a kind of immersive state to do my best work.
giving-up coffee cat
My best time to write is right after coffee and breakfast - four eggs because, full disclosure: I'm really a komodo dragon - and that's because then I'm energized but not so awake that the critical voice clicks on, the voice that sometimes says, "Don't write that," or "Man, that sentence is terrible - you should give up and go pet the cats."
book passion writing
Angela Carter's fiction blew me away and really instilled a passion for writing, bolstered by Vladimir Nabokov. But in general, I can't point to any one thing. I just always loved books and writing.
reading kids writing
My parents read to me a lot as a kid, and I started writing very early, probably spurred on by Aesop's fables. Then they gave me The Lord of the Rings way too early for me to fully understand what I was reading, which was actually kind of cool. It was almost better - comprehension's overrated when you're reading.
play guitar instruments
If I could play an instrument, it would probably be a cello or an electric guitar.