I think we are bound to, and by, nature. We may want to deny this connection and try to believe we control the external world, but every time there's a snowstorm or drought, we know our fate is tied to the world around us
Alice HoffmanRead
After a while, the characters I'm writing begin to feel real to me. That's when I know I'm heading in the right direction
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writers connect deeply with their characters, indicating authenticity in their storytelling.
This quote by Alice Hoffman highlights the profound connection that writers establish with their characters during the creative process. When authors feel that their characters are becoming real, it signifies that they are effectively crafting a compelling narrative, which leads to a richer and more engaging story that resonates with readers.
Themes
WritingCharactersStorytellingAuthenticityCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, one might use this quote to encourage aspiring authors to connect with their characters.
More from Alice Hoffman
All quotes βBefore she realized he was next to her, he had placed his hands over hers on the countertop, then hooped his fingers through hers. Gretel looked up at him, so startled she might as well have been shot. 'I just wanted to wake you up', he said. Which is exactly what he did. One look at him and her heart was racing. One look, and whatever had been before was all over.
Alice HoffmanRead
Do people choose the art that inspires them β do they think it over, decide they might prefer the fabulous to the real? For me, it was those early readings of fairy tales that made me who I was as a reader and, later on, as a storyteller.
Alice HoffmanRead
I never plot out my novels in terms of the tone of the book. Hopefully, once a story is begun it reveals itself
Alice HoffmanRead
My theory is that everyone at one time or another has been at the fringe of society in some way: an outcast in high school, a stranger in a foreign country, the best at something, the worst at something, the one who's different. Being an outsider is the one thing we all have in common.
Alice HoffmanRead
My grandmother told me once that when you lose somebody you think you've lost the whole world as well, but that's not the way things turn out in the end. Eventually, you pick yourself up and look out the window, and once you do you see everything that was there before the world ended is out there still. There are the same apple trees and the same songbirds, and over our heads, the very same sky that shines like heaven, so far above us we can never hope to reach such heights.
Alice HoffmanRead
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On the whole, dialogue is the most difficult thing, without any doubt. It's very difficult, unfortunately. You have to detach yourself from the notion of a lifelike quality. You see, actually lifelike, tape-recorded dialogue like this has very little to do with good novel dialogue. It's a matter of getting that awful tyranny of mimesis out of your mind, which is difficult.
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Was it confusing because it was artistic, or artistic because it was confusing?
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Well, the way I play, I try not to be a 'repeater pencil', ya dig? Originality's the thing. You can have tone and technique and a lot of other things but without originality you ain't really nowhere. Gotta be original.
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My ego only needs a good rhythm section
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Short fiction is the medium I love the most, because it requires that I bring everything I've learned about poetry - the concision, the ability to say something as vividly as possible - but also the ability to create a narrative that, though lacking a novel's length, satisfies the reader.
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