There's nothing confessional about crafting and shaping a story out of a lived life. In fact, it's quite the opposite - the writer has to be able to transcend the life, to see it as if standing outside of it, in order to be able to make something of it. There's something enormously satisfying and gratifying about crafting something, taking all that chaos and giving it shape.
Dani ShapiroI don't want to lean back into the past, or forward into the future. I don't want to wish the present moment away.
Dani ShapiroThe fact is that most husbands, regardless of religion - it's an old-fashioned gender divide where the husband wants to stay home and the wife is the one who drags herself and her children to whatever spiritual center they're going to.
Dani ShapiroThere is no end to the promotion. There is no end to the possibilities. You can continue to promote a book for years, literally.
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 Shapiro