Turkish - Author | October 25, 1971 -
I find families intriguing, perhaps because I did not grow up in one. I was raised by a feminist, independent, single mother, a divorcee.
Elif Safak
MotherGrowFindIndependentGrow Up
I write with humour about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food.
FoodSweetSadnessWriteHumour
I write as if I were drunk. It is a process of intuition rather than placing myself above my story like a puppeteer pulling strings. For me, it's a scary, chaotic process over which I have little control. Words demand other words, characters resist me.
MyselfWordsMeControlStoryDrunk
God is the biggest storyteller, and when we create stories, we connect with him and with each other across cultural, religious and gender boundaries.
GodGenderCreateHimBoundaries
For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God.
GodMeWritingUniverseFeelingWay
Bad writing is like a bad relationship. Don't be addicted to it just because you are familiar with its ways. Let go.
RelationshipWritingYouBadGo
We need a dose of doubt and a dose of faith, to challenge each other.
FaithChallengeDoubtNeedOther
I was in Madrid as a young girl and a teenager. I'll never forget when I went to the Prado Museum for the first time and saw the paintings of Goya. They had such a big impact on me.
GirlTimeMeImpactNever Forget
There are two different ways of writing a novel. The first I call the traditional father way, when the novelist slightly situates himself or herself above the text and knows what each and every character is going to do. It's a bit like engineering. I've never felt close to that tradition. I like the second way, which relies a bit more on intuition.
FatherCharacterWritingEngineering
The lack of trust in supranational entities and cosmopolitan elite creates a fertile ground for tribalist belongings and reactionary politics.
TrustPoliticsGroundEliteFertile
English, for me, is an acquired language. I started with English at the age of 10. At the time, it was my third language.
AgeTimeMeLanguageStartedThird
When I was 10 years old, we moved to Spain with my mother. I learned Spanish before I learned English. But the English language stayed with me.
MotherMeLanguageEnglish Language
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Elif Safak quotes