I don't mind finding these ugly sides to my personality and exaggerating them because that's something you can write towards. Maria Semple exaggeratefindmind Change image and share on social
My strength as a TV writer was my total lack of interest in television. Maria Semple interestlackstrength Change image and share on social
When you become a parent, that's a whole new level of life intruding. Nobody tells you how boring and time-sucking it's going to be! Or how the responsibility feels like an airbag going off in your life. Maria Semple airbagborefelt share on social
My summer reading suggestion: Pick a really famous, really long novel. Maria Semple famouslongpick Change image and share on social
'Where'd You Go, Bernadette' was surprisingly easy and fun to write because I was feeling such strong emotions. Maria Semple bernadetteeasyemotion Change image and share on social
Novels demand a certain complexity of narrative and scope, so it's necessary for the characters to change. Maria Semple changecharactercomplexity Change image and share on social
After decades spent in rewrite rooms surrounded by other shouting writers, I discovered that I work best alone. I like being in charge of my time, working out the problems according to my own rhythms and being able to nap. That's a big one, the napping on demand! Maria Semple bigchargedecade share on social
When I graduated high school, I was one of many English-majors-to-be traveling through Europe with a copy of 'Let's Go Europe' in one hand, 'Anna Karenina' in the other, a Eurail pass for a bookmark. Maria Semple annabookmarkcopy Change image and share on social
I don't know if it's a failure of imagination on my part, but I'm not going to be writing about Paris in the 1800s. I feel like it would come off as just ludicrously uninformed, even if I did a lot of research. Maria Semple 1800sfailurefeel share on social
Much of the time in the writer's room is spent working on story, and I was always challenging myself to make it more interesting, tighter and more surprising: to come at it sideways in a way that the audience wasn't expecting. Maria Semple audiencechallengeexpect share on social
