If certain books are to be termed 'immigrant fiction,' what do we call the rest? Native fiction? Puritan fiction? This distinction doesn't agree with me.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
I think each time you start a story or novel or whatever, you are absolutely at the bottom of the ladder all over again. It doesn't matter what you've done before.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Every new writing project feels like starting from scratch, regardless of past achievements.
This quote by Jhumpa Lahiri emphasizes the humility and fresh perspective required in creative pursuits. No matter how successful an author has been in the past, each new story or novel presents unique challenges and requires the writer to approach it as if they have never written before, acknowledging the learning process and the effort needed to create something new.
Themes
WritingCreativityNew BeginningsHumilityLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, to inspire newcomers to embrace each project as a learning opportunity.
More from Jhumpa Lahiri
All quotes →When I sit down to write, I don't think about writing about an idea or a given message. I just try to write a story which is hard enough.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
When I am experiencing a complex story or novel, the broader planes, and also details, tend to fall away.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
The sky was different, without color, taut and unforgiving. But the water was the most unforgiving thing, nearly black at times, cold enough, I knew, to kill me, violent enough to break me apart. The waves were immense, battering rocky beaches without sand. The farther I went, the more desolate it became, more than any place I'd been, but for this very reason the landscape drew me, claimed me as nothing had in a long time.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
On the technical side, I hope that my writing is evolving and maturing, ripening, deepening.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
I always wanted to grow up in a house full of books, English books, and I wanted the sort of fireplaces that worked, overstuffed chairs, that whole kind of fantasy of a bookish New England life. So the library gave me that; for the hours that I was there, I was surrounded by that atmosphere that I craved in my life.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
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