Nothing prepares you for making art except making art. You have to do it to get better. Philipp Meyer More Quotes by Philipp Meyer More Quotes From Philipp Meyer I was a bit of a delinquent growing up, a very poor student - I nearly failed several grades before dropping out of high school and getting a G.E.D. But I still read a lot. Thrillers and war novels, mostly, along with the occasional literary novel from my parents' bookshelf. Philipp Meyer parentshigh-schoolwarschool After I finished college, I got a job on Wall Street as a derivatives trader, but after a couple years of it, I was calling in sick in order to work on my novel. Philipp Meyer streetjobsickwork When we think of the myth of the settling of the West, this is our creation myth. But because we think of it as mythology, not as real people interacting with other real people, we ignore the cost of human lives and blood. Philipp Meyer thinkignorerealpeople There's a reason that all societies and cultures and small bands of humans engage in myth-making. Fundamentally, it is to help us understand ourselves. Philipp Meyer helpsmallunderstandreason I thought that I would have a huge literary novel coming out when I was, like, 29. I quit my banking job, and I was halfway through my second novel - and I will never publish it, because it's very mediocre. Philipp Meyer willneverjobthought Your mind burns a lot of calories. Writing can feel like a physical workout. Philipp Meyer yourfeelmindwriting My ideal is to write most of the day, then go running, find friends and socialise all evening; my mind recharges with human contact. Philipp Meyer dayeveningfriendsmind My parents have always been incredibly supportive. Even when I dropped out of high school, they said, 'We trust you, we believe in you.' Philipp Meyer parentsyoutrustbelieve I try to begin writing as close to a dreamlike state as I can get. Philipp Meyer gettryi-canwriting I didn't know much about Texas when I moved there for graduate school. In my first or second semester, I took a class in life and literature of the Southwest, and that's where I first heard about these events along the border in 1915-1918, what Anglos called the Bandit Wars. Philipp Meyer knowliteraturelifeschool If you're always thinking about someone else's work, about the tradition you're working in, how can you possibly make anything good? Philipp Meyer goodyouworkthinking I wanted to think about our creation myth; you know, what is the fundamental story that defines America. And it certainly is the West. Philipp Meyer storythinkknowyou When I dropped out of high school at age 16, I didn't know I was going to become a writer - I just knew I'd never been happy in school, and I had this strong suspicion I'd be happy doing other things. Philipp Meyer be-happyagehappyschool I don't think you can be taught how to make art. You can be coached, but on a fundamental level you have to figure it out for yourself. You have to learn how your own mind works, figure out your own relationship to the art; you essentially have to invent it completely for yourself. Philipp Meyer yourselfyourelationshipart I'm interested in getting deep into a person's consciousness and doing so in ways in which the narrator is secondary to the character's own thoughts. Philipp Meyer deepthoughtsdoingcharacter When you look at 'Grapes of Wrath,' the weakest moments are those in which Steinbeck is spouting a political idea directly at the reader. The book's real power comes from its slower, broader movement. Philipp Meyer lookyoupowerbook Your job as a writer is to find storylines, narrative structures, and characters to show the things that you believe rather than saying them or telling them. Philipp Meyer sayingjobyoubelieve
