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I always wince a little bit when I send me to each of my new books. I wince at submitting myself to my father's judgment. But, of course, he's such a fond father that he always writes back, saying it's the greatest thing ever written.

Emma Donoghue

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Emma Donoghue
Age: 55
Born: 1969
Born: October 24
Literary Historian
Novelist
Playwright
Screenwriter
Writer
Dublin city
Littles
Bits
Back
Saying
Ever
Greatest
Wince
Little
Courses
Submitting
Book
Course
Fond
Writing
Books
Writes
Thing
Written
Send
Always
Father
Judgment

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This is a bad story.” “Sorry. I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have told you.” “No, you should,” I say. “But—” “I don’t want there to be bad stories and me not know them.
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The sound of the pages turning was the sound of magic. The dry liquid feel of paper under fingertips was what magic felt like.
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The way to my heart is through Belgian milk chocolate.
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A memoir is always the most authentic telling of a situation, but a novel gets to different places.
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People move around so much in the world, things get lost.
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With my first book, I was hired to write a draft of the script. I was so young and less confident. They put me through seven or eight drafts and it was just getting worse and worse, and then the film was never made.
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I found motherhood a crash course in existentialism (what is my purpose in life, am I mistress or slave of my destiny, when the hell do I get some sleep?) and [the book] ROOM was the result.
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I was highly aware, in writing [the book] ROOM, that there are unsavoury aspects to our interest in such cases, and I thought it was rather honester to include discussion of media representation in the novel itself than to cling to the high moral ground by merely avoiding scenes of voyeurism, for instance.
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And as the years flowed by, some villagers told travelers of a beast and a beauty who lived in the castle and could be seen walking on the battlements, and others told of two beauties, and others, of two beasts.
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I think I read Susan Brownmiller's classic book called Femininity when I was about 16. So yeah, it's been part of my mindset since a very early age. To me, what's crucial is to tell women's stories but also to tell them in a way that is fearless.
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Some writers can produce marvelous plots without planning it out, but I can't. In particular I need to know the structure of a novel: what's going to happen in each chapter and each scene.
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When people write to me with stories, they are never ones that work for me. There's something mysterious about which ones catch you.
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I'm really not one of these procrastinators who cleans the house in order to put off writing, but life gets in the way.
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Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing.
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For all the books in his possession, he still failed to read the stories written plain as day in the faces of the people around him.
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I thought one way to try to hold on to the power was to write the script myself. That way, I could say to filmmakers, I'm not asking you to hire me unseen. I'm just saying, 'Here's my script. Can we work together?' So that worked out well.
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...real loneliness is having no one to miss. Think yourself lucky you've known something worth missing.
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You cannot predict literary success the only way you can possibly aim for it is to do your thing and do it well.
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I am clumsy, a late and nervous driver, and despise all sports except a little gentle dancing or yoga.
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You're meant to have an unhappy childhood to be a writer, but there's a lot to be said for a very happy one that just let's you get on with it.
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