A work of art is something produced by a person, but is not that person โ it is of her, but is not her. Itโs a reach, really โ the artist is trying to inhabit, temporarily, a more compact, distilled, efficient, wittier, more true-seeing, precise version of herself โ one that she canโt replicate in so-called โrealโ life, no matter how hard she tries. Thatโs why she writes: to try and briefly be more than she truly is.
George SaundersOne lesson I learned the hard way, early in my career, was that if I tried to write to be smart or to convey a theme or from some existing plan, the result was usually pretty boring. My intuitive move, whenever I'm considering writing something, is to steer towards what feels enjoyable. Another way of saying it is, you just try to avoid the "sucky." If you start to think of a story and a way to tell it, and your reaction is kind of like, Ugh, that's going to be hard, then you don't want to do that.
George SaundersIf you're going to make an emotional connection with somebody, whether it's in the story or in the world, there's a certain amount of self-acceptance that is required.
George Saunders