It's great to be able to just go with an idea and not have 10 people in a room telling me why I can't write in a huge mud slide at a school function with 50 kindergartners running around. Maria Semple functiongreathuge Change image and share on social
Creating art is painful. It takes time, practice, and the courage to stand alone. Maria Semple artcouragecreate Change image and share on social
In a lot of ways, TV writing taught me how to be a good storyteller. I learned about dialogue, scenes, moving the plot forward. Maria Semple dialogueforwardgood Change image and share on social
If I had written something, and I had written myself into a corner, I didn't abandon it. Because I remembered: There's always more. Maria Semple abandoncornerremember Change image and share on social
Writing a novel is so hard, and there are so many problems that the last thing you're thinking about is adapting this mess you have on your hands as a movie. You just want to get it to work as a novel. That's your main focus. Maria Semple adaptfocushand share on social
My favorite kind of book is a domestic drama that's grounded in reality yet slightly unhinged. Maria Semple bookdomesticdrama Change image and share on social
On Jan. 1, 2012, I resolved to not buy anything from Amazon for a year. Maria Semple amazonbuyjan Change image and 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
I love epistolary novels and became wildly excited when the form presented itself to me. Maria Semple epistolaryexciteform Change image and share on social
My talent isn't so much in traditional research as in finding really smart people and badgering them with questions. Maria Semple badgerfindpeople Change image and share on social
