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The lessons learned in journalism also apply. Writing for NPR has taught me to cut a piece in half and then in half again - without losing the essence. Apply that to the swollen prose of a bulky novel and you might reveal a beautiful work.

Julianna Baggott

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Julianna Baggott
Age: 55
Born: 1969
Born: September 30
Essayist
Novelist
Poet
University Teacher
Writer
Wilmington
Delaware
Might
Cutting
Reveal
Without
Novel
Apply
Writing
Pieces
Prose
Learned
Journalism
Work
Taught
Piece
Half
Lessons
Bulky
Beautiful
Essence
Npr
Also
Losing
Swollen

More quotes by Julianna Baggott

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When a colleague of mine had a notable New York Times book, I said, turn one of the chapters in the collection into a pitch for a novel and sell it to your publisher.
Julianna Baggott
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The basic rule of storytelling is 'show, don't tell.
Julianna Baggott
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I try not to divide plot and character. I get to know a character by what they want and fear and how those internal forces play out in their lives.
Julianna Baggott
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I want to keep looking at ways to stride forward with positivity.
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One of the reasons I write in different genres is that I get to have the feeling - even fleetingly - that I'm not just writing like Baggott again. I can escape myself.
Julianna Baggott
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A good novel doesn't just transcend the boundaries of its target market - it knows nothing about target markets.
Julianna Baggott
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I believe we're brutes, but then, miraculously, there are those among us who stand up against that brutishness and remind us of the goodness we're capable of.
Julianna Baggott
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Weakness, like not being able to bury the past. Weakness, like not giving up hope when you know you should.
Julianna Baggott
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She let him go once. Every day demands that she release him over and over again.
Julianna Baggott
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You learn to exploit genre for the more important things - to my mind - like story, character, image, language.
Julianna Baggott
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I am politically pro-choice, but personally pro-life. I have my faith but refuse to force it on the world at large - especially this world, so brutal and unjust. I cannot make these wrenching personal life and death decisions for others - nor do I believe they should be made by a church run by childless men.
Julianna Baggott
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I prefer a cluttered workspace.
Julianna Baggott
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She knows that whispers can be useful. Sometimes they contain real information. But usually they're fairy tales and lies. This is the worst kind of whisper, the kind that draws you in, gives you hope.
Julianna Baggott
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The intricacy of plotting a thriller is akin to writing formal poetry.
Julianna Baggott
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I'm a woman, but I've been a sexist, too.
Julianna Baggott
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My oldest sister was an actress living in NYC by the time I was ten, and desperately wanted to be the one in charge of the words.
Julianna Baggott
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I'm a writer of faith. I was raised Catholic, and I have a deeply Catholic imagination.
Julianna Baggott
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I don't have a favorite. I need different genres at different times.
Julianna Baggott
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I'm a writer of faith who worries about the intolerance of religion. I look at the past and fear we haven't learned from it. I believe that humanity is capable of evil as well as great acts of courage and goodness. I have hope. Deep down, I believe in the human spirit, although sometimes that belief is shaken.
Julianna Baggott
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People know the difference between good and evil in their hearts-if they search them. Religions twist good and evil. Their differences are the kind that need to be taught because they aren't natural.
Julianna Baggott