Of the widow's countless death-duties there is really just one that matters: on the first anniversary of her husband's death the widow should think I kept myself alive.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
Writing is a consequence of having been 'haunted' by material. Why this is, no one knows.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing emerges from an obsession or deep engagement with material, and its mystery remains unexplained.
In this quote, Joyce Carol Oates explores the idea that the act of writing is driven by an intense connection to the material or themes that inspire the writer. This haunting connection suggests that writers are often compelled by forces beyond their understanding, highlighting the enigmatic nature of creativity and the subconscious influences that shape artistic expression.
Themes
WritingCreativityInspirationMaterialArtistic Expression
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I quoted Joyce Carol Oates to emphasize the drive behind creative writing.
More from Joyce Carol Oates
All quotes βI never really knew I wanted to 'be' a writer, but I was always writing from a very young age. It became more conscious as an ideal when I was in my twenties.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
I'm drawn to write about upstate New York in the way in which a dreamer might have recurring dreams. My childhood and girlhood were spent in upstate New York, in the country north of Buffalo and West of Rochester. So this part of New York state is very familiar to me and, with its economic difficulties, has become emblematic of much of American life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
My writing is often a way of 'bearing witness' for others who lack the education and the opportunity to tell their own stories, so I hope that my writing won't be affected too much by my personal life.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
The worst cynicism: a belief in luck.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
. . . there is a wish in the heart of mankind to be distracted and confused. Truth is but one attraction, and not always the most powerful.
Joyce Carol OatesRead
Similar quotes
Like so many other nerdy, disaffected young people of that time, I dreamed of becoming an 'artist', i.e., somebody whose adult job was original and creative instead of tedious and dronelike.
David Foster WallaceRead
The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.
Terry SouthernRead
My main language was music, and my teacher was nature.
VangelisRead
Let the splendor of diamond, pearl and ruby vanish? Only let this one teardrop, this Taj Mahal, glisten spotlessly bright on the cheek of time, forever and ever.
Rabindranath TagoreRead
Who I am on stage is very, very different to who I am in real life.
Beyonce KnowlesRead
The general public, formerly profoundly indifferent to everything to do with building, has been shaken out of its torpor; personal interest in architecture as something that concerns every one of us in our daily lives has been very widely aroused; and the broad line of its future development are already clearly discernible.
Walter GropiusRead