What could be more boring than a novel that tells you how to think about everything that happens in it? Jonathan Dee More Quotes by Jonathan Dee More Quotes From Jonathan Dee That's really the essence of what any fiction writer does. Some of it is research-based, but most of it is a really long-term, imaginative, empathetic effort to see the world the way someone whose experiences remote from yours might see it. Not every writer works that way; some writers make a wonderful career out of writing books that adhere very closely to how they view the world. The further I go with this, the more interested I get in trying to imagine my way into other perspectives that at first seem foreign to me. Jonathan Dee perspectivewritingbook I don't want to make it sound too much like I'm telling people how to read the book A Thousand Pardons, but what Ben Armstead is doing, he's doing more or less on purpose as a very elaborate way of making a sacrifice in his personal life. He needs to start over. This is how he chooses to do it - by blowing up where he is. Jonathan Dee sacrificebookpeople Another big moment in terms of that feeling was David Petraeus: if the director of the CIA can't get away with having a secret relationship, then what hope do you have? It's not really an original idea, but there's something that goes along with power and celebrity that starts to make you feel like you're impervious to certain forces that the rest of us have to live with. Jonathan Dee momentssecretfeelings I worry that's what people are going to think about me if they kind of go backwards. But if that didn't happen to you, I'll feel better. Jonathan Dee feel-betterpeoplethinking Don't get me wrong: I can and do waste time on the Internet with the best of them, but in some respects, I am an embarrassingly analog guy. I am not on Facebook. I write whole books on yellow legal pads. I do not own a cell phone. Jonathan Dee i-ambestmetime I think that good storytelling of any kind does promote a humility in that it encourages you to see the world the way that other people see it. Jonathan Dee goodyoupeopleworld I have no desire to write historical anything or futuristic anything - I want to find a way to get at the essence of what it's like to be alive now. The reason why great novels from centuries ago are still great is because that's what they were doing; it's like a message from another culture. Jonathan Dee doinggreatcultureway John Dos Passos, Raymond Carver, Flaubert and William Maxwell were all very influential when I first started writing. Now, the writers I'm most interested in are the writers who are most unlike me: for example, Denis Johnson. Jonathan Dee whonowmewriting 'Anna Karenina.' I read it in college. I was so engrossed that I couldn't stop reading it and neglected all my other studies. I would go to the library even on nice warm weekends and just lock myself up. I think that was the first time that I felt transformed by a book. Jonathan Dee myselflibrarytimebook When I read a book I liked, I would get a pen and one of my father's legal pads and rewrite it from memory as if I had thought of it myself. It was a clear sign that I wanted to be involved in writing, even if it was just pretend at that point. Jonathan Dee legalmemorymyselffather The first draft often is really fast, and I'd be terribly ashamed if anybody ever saw it. Jonathan Dee fastanybodyfirstashamed You never want to be in a position where your reader feels like you're passing judgment on your own characters. Any novel where you feel like the author is talking to the reader over the characters' heads is in a bad place. Jonathan Dee feelplacebadyou When I'm composing a scene for the first time, I try to imitate my character. The less critical distance the better - particularly when they're acting badly. Jonathan Dee betterdistancetimecharacter It's nice to have something else going on when a book comes out so you're not just sitting by the phone, waiting for things to happen. You don't want to be the guy Googling himself all day. Jonathan Dee dayyouwaitingbook I'm not interested in current events per se, but I am interested in how certain aspects of social or public life that might seem ultra-contemporary actually take their place in a long American continuum. Jonathan Dee i-amplacelifelong If you look at the practice of 'crisis management,' and maybe squint at it a little, you can make out in the corners of your vision the ghosts or the vestiges of a much older, but still thoroughly American, form of public life, one centered not on public opinion but on religion. Jonathan Dee youvisionlifereligion In order to describe a particular subculture, you might want to portray people who are typical or representative of that subculture; but to dramatize it, to make it an interesting setting for a story, you want to bring someone anomalous into that setting, to see how she conforms to it, and it to her. Jonathan Dee storysomeoneyoupeople That's always the most productive research - research into tone, into voice. Facts are nice, too, but facts are more raw material than creative inspiration. Jonathan Dee voiceniceresearchfacts Writers like to feel sorry for themselves, which is easy to do in private, but when called on to feel sorry for ourselves in social situations, we will often do so by sharing terrible book tour stories. Jonathan Dee feelsorryeasybook The don't-ask-don't-tell approach to plot and character that 'The Hurt Locker' relies on to set itself in motion doesn't offend me politically. It offends me as a storyteller. 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