Canadian - Novelist | February 8, 1967 -
Some people are better at maths than others: no one thinks you can be 'taught' to be a mathematical genius. And no one thinks of teaching, in that context, as a kind of forcing of the will. But there seems to be an idea of writing as an intuitive pastime which is being dishonestly subjected to counterintuitive methods.
Rachel Cusk
PeopleWritingBetterGeniusYou
Writing, more than any other art, is indexed to the worthiness of the self because it is identified in people's minds with emotion.
ArtPeopleWritingSelfEmotion
Honest criticism, I suppose, has its place. But honest writing is infinitely more valuable.
WritingCriticismPlaceMoreHonest
Every time I write a book, I've probably taken five years off my life.
LifeTimeBookMy LifeWriteYears
To be optimistic about something that is absolutely unknown to you is unfounded.
YouUnknownSomethingAbsolutely
Society in the English countryside is still strangely, quaintly divided. If black comedy and a certain type of social commentary are what you want, I think English rural communities offer quite a lot of material.
SocietyBlackThinkComedyYouWant
There are certain types of slightly hysterical human characters who, rather than creating, walk around with a sense of their own potential - it's as if they themselves were art objects. They feel as if their lives are written narratives, or pieces of music.
MusicArtWalkPotentialFeelHuman
I think men and women are the same. Even as parents, I think we're the same. We're just conditioned to think that we're different. Having said that, it's true that motherhood is a particularly vulnerable area. It's an open wound, really. A woman is exposed to being turned into a different kind of person by the experience of motherhood.
WomenExperienceMenWomanParents
It is living, not thinking, as a feminist that has become the challenge.
ChallengeThinkingLivingBecome
In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in. It mustn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own.
YourselfYouToo MuchWillSmell
There is always shame in the creation of an expressive work, whether it's a book or a clay pot. Every artist worries about how they will be seen by others through their work. When you create, you aspire to do justice to yourself, to remake yourself, and there is always the fear that you will expose the very thing that you hoped to transform.
WorkFearJusticeYourselfBookYou
I absolutely don't dislike children - I would choose their company over adult company any time.
ChildrenTimeChooseCompanyDislike
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Rachel Cusk quotes