Maybe this is pathetic, but I still dread producing a book that doesn't earn back its advance. I hate obligations that are financially foggy. Helen Garner advancebackbook Change image and share on social
I used to feel an obligation to invent things. I felt I was a failure because I didn't do massive great novels about Australia or the outback or something. I just don't feel that any more. Helen Garner australiafailurefeel Change image and share on social
While I was writing 'The Spare Room,' I thought, 'I'm going to look really bad in this book - there's no redeeming this kind of awful, ugly emotion', and I thought, 'I'm not going to change it. I'll call the character 'Helen' and admit to those feelings.' I think this is a reason why people write. Helen Garner admitawfulbad share on social
Writers seem to me to be people who need to retire from social life and do a lot of thinking about what's happened - almost to calm themselves. Helen Garner calmhappenlife Change image and share on social
At the time it seemed like a natural development of my interest in what was going on around me in society. Helen Garner developmentinterestnatural Change image and share on social
As in all matters involving love, which has so many different meanings, you find that the feeling that we label 'love' is not a simple feeling, it's a very complex one. Under the heading 'love' can come all sorts of rage and desperation. Helen Garner complexdesperationfelt share on social
I think that there must be a point of self-immersion in a story that is a point of no return. You get far enough in that the story has really touched you to the core and deeply troubled you and made you unhappy and fearful, and then how do you get out of that? I'm a writer, so my way of getting out of that is to write. Helen Garner coredeeplyfearful share on social
It's a terrific privilege to be able to see into somebody else's life. Helen Garner lifeprivilegeterrific Change image and share on social
Life's fairly excruciating. Painful things happen. Every now and then, you drag yourself out of the stream and stand on the bank gasping for air. I think that's how I work. Helen Garner airbankdrag Change image and share on social
But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both working in fiction... so I look back and I see that I consciously vacated the contested ground. Helen Garner backcompletelyconsciously share on social