How to Write an Autobiographical Novel--Alexander Chee
In the occult, good manners matter, as they do in life, and perhaps even more so. (25)
The Querrent
The questions of the reading--what is leaving the querrent's life, what is about to enter, what is the root of the situation, what is the crown, how do people perceive them, what do they hope and fear?--these are all good things to ask yourself about any character you're writing about. (34)
The Writing Life
The writer Lorrie Moore calls the feeling I felt that day "the consolations of the mask," where you make a place that doesn't exist in your own life for the life your life has no room for, the exiles of your memory. (44)
Girl
He takes out his camera and snaps photos of me in the middle of the crowded cafe, and the flash is like a little kiss each time it hits my retinas. (67)
Tonight is one of those nights when I am growing, changing quickly, without warning, into new shapes and configurations, and I don't know where this all goes. (71)
My Parade
...begun an intense correspondence that turned out to be our way of falling in love. (104)
Deborah drew lines around what was invented, and what was not, with a delicate pencil, and patiently explained to me how what we invent, we control, and how what we don't, we don't--and that it shows. (111)
100 Things About Writing a Novel
The novel is already at the door. Waiting, but just for a little. It is the lover again, impatient again. Wanting again for you to know everything. (145)
The Rosary
I eventually take pity on the sea roses and remove them. In an unscientific gesture that I also feel very sure of, I take them to the beach in Maine and leave them out on the rocks to fend for themselves. (170)
The Autobiography of my Novel
The story of your life, described, will not describe how you came to think about your life or yourself, nor describe any of what you learned. This is what fiction can do--I think it is even what fiction is for. (200)
He notes that the root of "drama" is the Greek word dran, which means "to do" or "to act," and this became one of the most powerful insights for me. (213)
"Something happening after certain events and something happening because of them." (214)
The Guardians
I loved him, in part, for what he might be someday, which is never a good way to love someone. (225)
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
You don't know this yet, but gods, even when you don't believe in them, do not give something easily. Not even when the god is you. (245)
He was saying he did not think I was depressed, despite my difficulties, and he was right, I did not think of myself as depressed. I thought of myself as angry. (266)
Destroying art is practice for destroying people. (276)
The Querrent
The questions of the reading--what is leaving the querrent's life, what is about to enter, what is the root of the situation, what is the crown, how do people perceive them, what do they hope and fear?--these are all good things to ask yourself about any character you're writing about. (34)
The Writing Life
The writer Lorrie Moore calls the feeling I felt that day "the consolations of the mask," where you make a place that doesn't exist in your own life for the life your life has no room for, the exiles of your memory. (44)
Girl
He takes out his camera and snaps photos of me in the middle of the crowded cafe, and the flash is like a little kiss each time it hits my retinas. (67)
Tonight is one of those nights when I am growing, changing quickly, without warning, into new shapes and configurations, and I don't know where this all goes. (71)
My Parade
...begun an intense correspondence that turned out to be our way of falling in love. (104)
Deborah drew lines around what was invented, and what was not, with a delicate pencil, and patiently explained to me how what we invent, we control, and how what we don't, we don't--and that it shows. (111)
100 Things About Writing a Novel
The novel is already at the door. Waiting, but just for a little. It is the lover again, impatient again. Wanting again for you to know everything. (145)
The Rosary
I eventually take pity on the sea roses and remove them. In an unscientific gesture that I also feel very sure of, I take them to the beach in Maine and leave them out on the rocks to fend for themselves. (170)
The Autobiography of my Novel
The story of your life, described, will not describe how you came to think about your life or yourself, nor describe any of what you learned. This is what fiction can do--I think it is even what fiction is for. (200)
He notes that the root of "drama" is the Greek word dran, which means "to do" or "to act," and this became one of the most powerful insights for me. (213)
"Something happening after certain events and something happening because of them." (214)
The Guardians
I loved him, in part, for what he might be someday, which is never a good way to love someone. (225)
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
You don't know this yet, but gods, even when you don't believe in them, do not give something easily. Not even when the god is you. (245)
He was saying he did not think I was depressed, despite my difficulties, and he was right, I did not think of myself as depressed. I thought of myself as angry. (266)
Destroying art is practice for destroying people. (276)