Jennifer Egan Quotes

Every now and then I'll do little things, a short story or something, that doesn't have any fantastical elements, but mostly I like the power of playing God and I like to imagine things.

A work of fiction is conceived very much the same way as a dream occurs in the mind of a sleeper. But a lot of it is imagination. It's not based on real people.

Everyone else thinks I'm a nonfiction writer. I think it's because my nonfiction is easier to find. But I write both in equal measure. I love writing fiction because I can totally lose myself, and I get to make up the rules of the world that I'm writing.

I've been falsely accused of drawing too much from real life. But I am a petty thief - I take little things. And, I mean, I can hardly write 10 words before I start to make things up. I start to invent, because that's what I want to do. I'm running away to an invented place.

Sometimes I read a script and it's obvious from early on that it's one where the suspension of disbelief has to develop strongly from page one. Some are more reality-based.

I love telling stories. Creating a character, a world, a whole universe out of nothing. That part I can't get enough of.

It's funny with fiction - once you cut something, it hasn't happened anymore.

I like novelists who can create other interesting worlds.

Ultimately, in my mind, that's what I'm trying to do with my fiction; I'm trying to transport my reader into a different world.

I would, however, start writing fiction about 10 years before I actually did, because it's such great fun to do, many times more creative than nonfiction.

In any genre you're working in, you can always find a way to tell a particular kind of story. I love fantasy; I love science fiction. I love all kinds of fiction, in fact.

Whether it's fiction or nonfiction, writing takes me to another world.

The fiction writer in me likes gaps in stories because I can jump into that gap and try to suggest something.

The great thing about fiction is you can fix things and make things better.

The things that I'm interested in directing are fiction, because then you're not married to a particular reality.

When you do fiction, it is your imagination you have put out there.

I'm always excited about stories that allow me to explore a character and create interesting stories and worlds that we haven't seen before.

Sometimes journalists ask me, "What's the message?" There is no message. I think that fiction should not be trying to give messages. Just tell a story.

When you write, you want to get rid of the world, don’t you? Of course you do. When you’re writing, you’re creating your own worlds.

What I like about writing a stand alone novel is you're starting with a fresh world and fresh characters. Part of what I love about writing is that journey of discovery where it's all new to me as well.

A writer of fiction is really... a congenital liar who invents from his own knowledge or that of other men.

When everything does seem out of control, writing fiction is a way I can order that chaos and restore some sort of meaning. I like the playful aspect of writing fiction. You know how it is when we are kids and we make up our worlds: You be this guy, and I am going to be this guy, and we are going to go slay dragons.

Quite casually I wander into my plot, poke around with my characters for a while, then amble off, leaving no moral proved and no reader improved.

Fiction can either be a mirror reflecting you back to yourself or it can be a clean pane of glass looking on the outside.

I loved the world of imagination.