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There is a lot of censorship about writing that's exerted from all directions, from families or governments and society, even the fear of being offensive in some way.

Alice Mattison

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Alice Mattison
Age: 82
Born: 1942
Born: March 18
Novelist
New York City
New York
Governments
Families
Society
Fear
Government
Exerted
Writing
Directions
Even
Censorship
Way
Offensive

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I've been astonished how often, when I convince a writer to tell a story more straightforwardly and to tell it more simply and directly, it turns out that this author is great and the story is wonderful.
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There seems to be a tremendous desire among many people now to know authors and how they work, to know what's autobiographical and what isn't.
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Anyone with an imagination can write about the day-to-day experiences of someone he or she is not.
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I don't have the courage not to write all the time.
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You can't tell a writer they should just be more confident.
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Maybe we're stuck with who we are.
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Whoever would write books? It's suffering as well as greatly satisfying. And certainly there's suffering in the sense that you don't know for a long time how to do it.
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Teaching is very important to me, and it has become more important as I get older.
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The making of fiction takes literally what is suggested by our imagination.
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Sometimes I write well when I'm very upset.
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Being part of a community of writers is huge. I really think that's why people go to MFA programs.
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When an editor first explained to me the difference between direct and indirect writing, I just thought it was a stylistic choice.
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I think the difference between writing as someone and writing for them is that when you write for someone, you take on a kind of political burden or message, which I don't think we have the right to do.
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Somehow we have to detach from feeling as though money is a quick and easy standard by which we can gauge how well we're doing.
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There's the belief that we can't be smart enough to write. And certainly censorship of women, too.
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We have to diversify, we have to find work we can do that helps other people while helping ourselves, work that has to do with writing that isn't necessarily just writing saleable novels or getting huge advances.
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I just like doing it, I like writing.
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I think you have to remember that writing is hard my first editor used to say that to me.
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Writers sometimes are paid a great deal of money, but much more frequently they're not paid or are paid only a little bit.
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I don't think a white person can write accurately and convincingly about what black people experience of oppression.
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