Often, the fact that I haven't done something as a writer is all the reason I need to try it. Jess Walter factreasonwriter Change image and share on social
I don't know that any writing comes easily, but I certainly get more immersed in novels. I don't think the routine is any different, but fiction tends to pull me further away from my life. When I'm deep in a novel, I don't pay bills and I walk around in one shoe, drinking two-day old coffee, and calling my kids by the wrong names. Jess Walter billcallcoffee share on social
My poetry is the most disappointing thing for me that I've ever written. When I say I can write everything, I don't say I can write everything well. Jess Walter disappointhavepoetry Change image and share on social
I teach in M.F.A. programs now, and I think that's a great way to become a novelist, but I mourn that Pete Dexter and Joan Didion's route is maybe less likely because there are fewer of those jobs. I always liken it to playing piano in some great dive jazz bar. You didn't pick the songs, you played what people asked for, but you got your chops. Jess Walter askbarchop share on social
The war in Iraq, the abuse of detainees, electronic eavesdropping, Guantanamo Bay - these things were all done on our behalf and they may turn out in the end to have created more terrorists. Jess Walter abusebaybehalf Change image and share on social
I come from a newspaper background, so maybe I'm attuned to current events. Jess Walter attunebackgroundcurrent Change image and share on social
I think I would explode in flames of irony if I were to option an idea that I was satirizing in a novel. Jess Walter explodeflameidea Change image and share on social
My poems... the ones that start out as jokes become these big ponderous things and the ones that start out ponderous devolve into jokes. Jess Walter bigdevolvejoke Change image and share on social
For me, movies and television are interesting because they are the dominant storytelling form of our time. My first love will always be fiction, and especially novels, but I'm a writer... I write poetry and essays and criticism and I'd love to write a whole play, and sometimes I even write scripts. Jess Walter criticismdominantessay share on social
I pretty much drink a cup of coffee, write in my journal for a while, and then sit at a computer in my office and torture the keys. My one saving grace as a writer is that, if I'm having trouble with the novel I'm writing, I write something else, a poem or a short story. I try to avoid writer's block by always writing something. Jess Walter avoidblockcoffee share on social