I had spent my childhood and the better part of my early adulthood trying to understand my mother. She had been an extraordinarily difficult person, spiteful and full of rage, with a temper that could flare, seemingly out of nowhere, scorching everything and everyone who got in its way. [pp. 40-41]
Dani ShapiroI often envy my friends who are visual artists. Visual artists have other things to work with. Other media. I envy my sculptor friends: they have hunks of matter. Marble. Wood. It's physical, which I find very appealing. What we have is nothing, is just glaringly blank.
Dani ShapiroWhen I sit down with my notebook, when I start scribbling words across the page, I find out what Iโm feeling.
Dani ShapiroI had spent my childhood and the better part of my early adulthood trying to understand my mother. She had been an extraordinarily difficult person, spiteful and full of rage, with a temper that could flare, seemingly out of nowhere, scorching everything and everyone who got in its way. [pp. 40-41]
Dani ShapiroThereโs a great expression in Twelve Step programs: Act as if. Act as if youโre a writer. Sit down and begin. Act as if you might just create something beautiful, and by beautiful I mean something authentic and universal. Donโt wait for anybody to tell you itโs okay. Take that shimmer and show us our humanity. Thatโs your job.
Dani ShapiroWriting well involves walking the path of most resistance. Sitting still, being patient, allowing the lunatic dream to take shape on the page, then the shaping, the pencil on the page, breathing, slowing down, being willingโno, more than willing, being wide openโto press the bruise until it blossoms.
Dani Shapiro