Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.
Joyce Carol OatesHe was ugly, himself. Weird-ugly. But ugliness in a man doesn't matter, much. Ugliness in a woman is her life.
Joyce Carol OatesI don't feel I write fast. I write in longhand and do so much revision. On the page, it's so old-fashioned. I could write a whole novel on scrap paper, scribbles and things. I keep looking at it and something develops. For me, using a word processor would mean staring at a screen for too many hours.
Joyce Carol OatesWe inhabit ourselves without valuing ourselves, unable to see that here, now, this very moment is sacred; but once itโs gone โ its value is incontestable.
Joyce Carol OatesWhere there must be a choice, a girl will choose Daddy. Even if you are Mommy, you concede that this must be so: you remember when you were a girl, too.
Joyce Carol OatesWhen writing goes painfully, when itโs hideously difficult, and one feels real despair (ah, the despair, silly as it is, is real!)โthen naturally one ought to continue with the work; it would be cowardly to retreat. But when writing goes smoothlyโwhy then one certainly should keep on working, since it would be stupid to stop. Consequently one is always writing or should be writing.
Joyce Carol Oates