When I was writing my first two books I was also freelancing and teaching and doing other odd jobs. Curtis Sittenfeld More Quotes by Curtis Sittenfeld More Quotes From Curtis Sittenfeld I feel like if you read something, and it makes you so curious about a topic that you then go read something else, that's exciting. Curtis Sittenfeld topicscuriousexciting There are people we treat wrong and later we're prepared to treat other people right. Perhaps this sounds mercenary, but I feel grateful for these trial relationships, and I would like to think it all evens out - surely, unknowingly, I have served as practice for other people. Curtis Sittenfeld gratefulpracticethinking To remain alone did not seem to me a terrible fate, no worse than being falsely joined to another person. Curtis Sittenfeld fateterriblepersons There are people we treat wrong and later, we're prepared to treat other people right. Curtis Sittenfeld preparedtreatspeople I just write the books that I think I would want to read. Curtis Sittenfeld writingbookthinking Well, I think that if you sincerely try to imagine what life is like for another person - not in a mocking way, not in a satirical way, but in a sincere, compassionate way - I don't think that's exploitive. Curtis Sittenfeld life-is-liketryingthinking I'm SO trying to give up meat. Curtis Sittenfeld giving-uptryinggiving My boarding school experience was the only thing I had strong enough feelings to write about for hundreds and hundreds of pages. I can still smell the formaldehyde of the fetal pigs in biology. Curtis Sittenfeld strongwritingschool Even more than getting compliments on social media, what I love is when some random stranger says something very funny or insightful about my books, often in 140 characters or less! It's a very casual, low-stakes, non-burdensome way of connecting that I think is fun for both the writer and the reader. And there are a lot of clever people out there who have no connection to publishing. Curtis Sittenfeld cleverfunbook I don't think it's shameful to admit that some days your time can be better spent reading than writing. Curtis Sittenfeld readingwritingthinking Foolish names and foolish faces often appear in public places. Curtis Sittenfeld foolishnamesfaces And this is how I know that it's all just words, words, words - that fundamentally, they make no difference... Our relationship, for as long as things were good, and in that moment when they could have been good again, was about the irrelevance of words. You feel what you feel, you act as you act, who in the history of the world has ever been convinced by a well-reasoned argument? Curtis Sittenfeld irrelevancedifferenceslong The best part of being a writer for me is immersing myself in a fictional world, which is the opposite of being on social media. At the same time, if no one ever read my work, if I was writing solely for myself, I bet it would be lonely and a lot less fun. Curtis Sittenfeld lonelywritingfun The fact is that in this day and age I don't think any novelist can assume that a book will get attention. Curtis Sittenfeld agebookthinking I have this theory that the likeability question comes up so much more with female characters created by female authors than it does with male characters and male authors Curtis Sittenfeld malesfemalecharacter People who think my books are autobiographical, which they're not, credit me with having a much better memory than I do. I do, however, have a powerful imagination Curtis Sittenfeld powerfulmemoriesbook I feel that Pride and Prejudice is an incredibly well constructed novel on every level. The dialogue is great. The character development is great. The plotting is great. The pacing is great. The language is great. Curtis Sittenfeld prejudicepridecharacter I don't really have special rituals, but I don't try to write fiction unless I have a minimum of a few hours. For me, it takes a while to settle into a mode where I'm truly concentrating Curtis Sittenfeld specialwritingtrying It's never that hard for me to imagine what it must feel like to be someone else, whether it's an American teenage girl or a Japanese octogenarian man Curtis Sittenfeld teenagegirlmen Personally, I have never wished I were a male novelist. Curtis Sittenfeld malesnovelists
