Ask the Author: Dani Shapiro
Answered Questions (6)
Dani Shapiro
I recognize that it never -- not even ten books later! -- ever goes away. So I just try to ignore the inner censor. John Gregory Dunne once said that the best definition he knows for writers block is "a failure of nerve." Again, it is the sitting down each day whether I feel like it or not -- the daily routine -- that makes the biggest difference.
Dani Shapiro
It's a privilege to attempt to shape the chaos of life into something with a shape -- to try to make sense of this world, whether writing fiction or memoir. And to connect with others through the written word. I wrote in my book Still Writing that writing saved my life -- it is my disease AND my cure. I truly believe this.
Dani Shapiro
Don't compare your work to others. Turn off your phone. Don't go online -- hah! You're here on Goodreads. But you know what I mean. The best work comes from a quiet mind.
Dani Shapiro
I have a new memoir, Inheritance, coming out in January from Knopf.
Dani Shapiro
I truly believe inspiration is a myth. I put my butt in the chair every day and try to remind myself that the result is none of my business. As Martha Graham once wrote, it is only my business to keep it mine, clearly and directly -- to keep the channel open.
Dani Shapiro
I wanted to write about the beauty and complexity of long-term marriage and commitment, through the lens of my own marriage of two decades.
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