Joanna Scott
Joanna Scott
Joanna Scottis an American author and Roswell Smith Burrows Professor of English at the University of Rochester...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
best liars might rather writers
The best liars lie with their eyes rather than with their words. This might put writers at a disadvantage.
against arranging belongs bump curse fiction furniture guess stumble toe trying wrong
I'm really such a bumbler! Writing fiction is like arranging furniture in a dark room. I can't see what I'm doing. I grope for the right words. I bump against the wrong words and stumble and stub my toe and curse and keep trying to guess what belongs in the space.
article finish front lead local minimal morning newspaper page pretend section style subject takes
With prurient absorption and only minimal risk, we can pretend to be the subject of the lead article on the front page of the Style section of our local newspaper for as long as it takes to finish our morning coffee.
children lots midst open staying
As children know, there's lots of fun in nonsense. We never stop benefiting from staying flexible, open and responsive, even in the midst of confusion.
art both drives essential fiction heart novelist offers ourselves telling time true truth
Telling ourselves that fiction is in a sense true and at the same time not true is essential to the art of fiction. It's been at the heart of fiction from the start. Fiction offers both truth, and we know it's a flat-out lie. Sometimes it drives a novelist mad. Sometimes it energizes us.
admired antics democratic document easier intimate life private reviewers satirical square thanks verbal
Reviewers try to square the antics of a writer's life with the antics in the fiction. Even satirical verbal play is too often read and admired as autobiographical expression. And thanks to the democratic exposures of the web, it's easier than ever to document private experiences and divulge the most intimate secrets.
begin convey correct gets harder impulse meaning obliged polished prose resist rigidity seem stir temptation trying
If the rules of a language are followed, words usually make sense. But these very rules can stir the impulse to rebel. We're obliged to keep trying to convey meaning through correct sentences. After a while, the good-soldier rigidity of polished prose can begin to seem dull, and it gets harder to resist the temptation of nonsense.
broke close develop helped inside introduce main move stuck
My first two books, I was very close to my main character, stuck inside their head. And then with 'Arrogance,' I broke into many different voices. I introduce many different characters, and that helped me to develop a confidence to move between different characters, between different voices.
amount certain click commitment gathering involves means project starting time work
I feel there has to be a certain amount of improvisation as I'm writing, which means any idea or any commitment to a project is risky. It involves time; it involves gathering of material, and sometimes it just doesn't work. Sometimes it does. As I'm starting out on a project, I can't tell if it will click or not.
formula innovative lesser quickly readily reliable stale strategies
Writing that flirts with incoherence can just as readily flounder as writing characterized by simplicity and composure. There is no reliable formula for originality, and strategies that are distinguished as innovative in their first incarnation can quickly become stale in the hands of lesser artists.
arbitrary matter point
There's a point I set for myself, and it's an arbitrary point, when I think no matter happens, I'm going to finish that book. And that's when I get to page 100. I have to see it out.
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The novelist in me is probably hiding behind all the stories I write, looking for ways to connect them and continue the conversation with readers. Maybe I'm writing one long narrative, and each book, however different from the last, is just a chapter.
asked ourselves
In the ongoing celebration that is literature, we are asked to imagine ourselves as other selves, for better or worse.
literary spent
In the early 1980s, I spent a year working as an assistant at the Elaine Markson Literary Agency.