Susan Minot Quotes

But no one should have the right to manipulate my films in the first place.

I don't take story input from fans.

Writers have to be very careful and discerning because so much of the machine is out of their control.

I write what I write.

When the uncreative tell the creative what to do, it stops being art.

Don’t let people interfere with you. Boot ’em out, turn off the phone, hide away, get it done. If you carry a short story over to the next day you may overnight intellectualize something about it and try to make it too fancy, try to please someone.

Artists themselves are not confined, but their output is.

As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences. But just take what I give you. You ain't got to pry beyond that.

When I'm writing music, I'm not playing a character. I'm not Alice Cooper or Gene Simmons or someone like that, who has acknowledged that they are writing music for a character.

Governmental aid is a drawback rather than an assistance, as, although it may facilitate in the routine of artistic production, it is an impediment to the development of true artistic genius.

Censorship is the thing that stops you doing what you want to do, and what writers want to talk about is what they do, not what stops them doing it.

You know I've had work banned.

I've gotten to a point where I wouldn't direct someone else's material. It would only be something totally original.

I don't like people telling me what to do, or trying to MAKE me write songs.

Once you publish a book, it is out of your control. You cannot dictate how people read it.

I always appreciate people's opinions, but sometimes I have to take a step back and remember why I'm writing and what I want to do with it. Shutting out the voices is difficult but it's been good for me.

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.

For a long time, censors have been cutting my works. This makes me so sad, because many times they will tell me, 'Television won't like, so we have to cut, cut, cut!'

Writing is challenging work because it's so easy to get consumed with how it's going, what's going to happen to it, who's going to like or not like it. You want to get all of that stuff out of your head and just let the work flow.

I've never been one to sit back and go, 'I'd better do what the audience wants me to do, because I don't want to lose them.'

I'm not an artist who has an agenda that's set by the work.

I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write.

There have been times when I'm writing about things that are personally embarrassing. Like any human being, sometimes I can't help but wonder - 'What are the people I know going to think about this?' So I have to remind myself that all is permissible. Art has to be a free space. Language has to be a free space.

I don't feel that as an artist my job is to offer PR propaganda, whether for the good or for the bad.

I write my own songs. I made my own videos. I pick my producers. Nothing goes out without my permission. It's all authentic.