Nobody had forgotten anything here. In Berlin, you had to wrestle with the past, you had to build on the ruins, inside them. It wasn't like America where we scraped the earth clean, thinking we could start again every time. Janet Fitch More Quotes by Janet Fitch More Quotes From Janet Fitch When I start writing, my unconscious, my conflicts, my thoughts all start to come up. So for me, writing is an exploration. I never know how my stories will end. Janet Fitch conflict stories writing I use my fiction to explore my own unconscious issues. I usually don't even know what's going on with me until I'm writing. Janet Fitch issues writing fiction I'm always gratified when I check something I've made up and discover that I've gotten it right. How can we imagine something that turns out to be true? How can we know things we couldn't possibly know? It makes me wonder about the existence of a collective unconscious. Janet Fitch collective-unconscious imagine wonder I usually start with something that has some energy, like a compressed character or a situation that's wound up like a spring. Then all I have to do is let it go, let its energy carry the story. And that may not turn out to be the beginning of the book. Janet Fitch spring character book We read so that we can be moved by a new way of looking at things. Janet Fitch new-ways moved way If I get ideas independently of the act of writing, they never really fit. So for me, there's no hanging out, waiting for inspiration. Janet Fitch inspiration writing ideas In our exterior life, we can be only one person. But in our imagination, we can be anyone, anywhere. Janet Fitch exterior persons imagination A lot of people think they should be happy all the time. But the writer understands you need both. You need the whole piano: the richness of the whole human experience. Depression, suffering and anger are all part of being human. Janet Fitch be-happy anger depression time For me, I'd rather be the inventive one, and if something doesn't work, I'll go back to the workshop, put it on the bench, and pound on it for awhile. Janet Fitch back go me work My mother was an enthusiastic chef but wildly disorganized, and often preferred purchasing yet another jar of mace or chili powder rather than having to hunt down its last incarnation. Janet Fitch down last mother chef The elegance of a really good screenplay, I admire it. I can't do it. Janet Fitch really good admire elegance I kept sending out stories and getting rejected. Janet Fitch getting out rejected stories As an undergraduate, I had not studied literature - I was a history major. Janet Fitch had major literature history What is real is always worth it. Janet Fitch worth-it real
