Kiran Desai Quotes

I wanted each of my books to be very different from the others, each to be special and uncategorizable, and I knew I could only do that a few times before I was in danger of repeating myself.

Writing is not a competitive sport. Everyone that writes has his or her own voice.

When you're an artist, all you're trying to do is self-express.

It does not matter how badly you paint so long as you don't paint badly like other people.

My job is to just express something that I want to express. And if I'm ahead or behind the curve, that's for others to decide.

As a writer, you have to first of all write what you want to. Listen to advice, by all means, but don't get bogged down in it.

Remember to write for yourself, not for a market and give yourself time to develop your own style, your own voice. It takes a lifetime. Enjoy it!

When I'm writing a book, you can't think about your audience. You're going to be in big trouble if you think about it. You're got to write from deep inside.

I love artists like Jon B, but I don't wanna be compared to anybody. I'm just doing my interpretation of rnb and how someone like me should be doing it.

I made the tenor sax - there's nobody plays like me and I don't play like anybody else.

Success isn't based on 'look what I can do!' but more on an inner sense of self and believing you have something to say in your own consistent way. And I think we all have to fight to maintain our unique style and taste in a world that would have us conform.

I thought, if I write a book that is not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, it's not going to mean that I will not get any criticism. I might as well write the book that I want to write.

I just believe that young people need to be able to learn how to write in their own voice. Just like a musician, you pride yourself on having your own distinct sound.

The downside of videos is that it will put my vision in front of other people, so they might not get the chance to create their own.

What I aspire to do, and what I try the hardest to do, is write stuff that's very personal in its way. I figure I can only say things the way I say them, so I'm trying to do something that is kind of anti-generic.

I don't write genre stuff in any form. I'm not interested in it. I always try to do the opposite of that.

I don't rap like nobody, I don't try to sound like nobody.

Sometimes, there's a preconceived notion of how a scene or how a work should be delivered. And I see young performers sometimes try and deliver that, and it's not really true to their voice or who they are.

The freedom of every artist is essential.

I have no models in Japanese literature. I created my own style, my own way.

I always tell students that writing a poem and publishing it are two quite separate things, and you should write what you have to write, and if you're afraid it's going to upset someone, don't publish it.

When I teach writing, I have a mantra: 'Be a first-rate version of yourself, and not a second-rate version of another writer.'

I think the idea of art kills creativity.

I love to write. I used to be a math teacher. And I like the idea that other people could write about the same subjects, but no one would write it just the way I do. It's very individual: a child could write the same story as somebody else, but it wouldn't come out the same.

Everyone has his own sound. I'm not going to presume how to tell anybody how to write.