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
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.
mom artist fiction
My mom is an artist and my own fiction is deeply visual.
short-love reading fiction
The stories in Get In Trouble confirm once again that Kelly Link is a modern virtuoso of the form-playful and subversive required reading for anyone who loves short fiction.
fiction film enough
Film fixes a precise visual image in the viewer's head. In fiction, you just hope you're precise enough to convey the intended effect.
writing fiction helping
I have to have music as a soundtrack to writing fiction. I listen to it at other times, too, but it helps me write.
goal mind fiction
Imbuing fiction with a life that extends beyond the last word is in some ways the goal: the ending that goes beyond the ending in the reader's mind, so invested are they in the story.
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.
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.
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.
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.