"Probably I, like a lot of people, became a writer in imitation of or in homage to the books I enjoyed. When you're so captivated by something, you think, could I do that? Hmm, let me try"
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Writing starts here not as destiny but as dare: the private, almost sheepish moment when admiration turns into imitation. Curtis Sittenfeld frames authorship as a kind of fan behavior with ambition attached. The key move is how she collapses the lofty myth of “calling” into a recognizable impulse: you love a book, you want to touch the mechanism that made it. That modesty is strategic. It demystifies the profession without diminishing it, casting craft as something you enter through curiosity, not credentials.
The subtext is permission. “Probably I, like a lot of people” slides the ladder down from the ivory tower. Sittenfeld isn’t guarding the gates; she’s describing the gate as a mirage. This matters in a literary culture that often romanticizes suffering or exceptionalism as the entry fee. Her version is more democratic and, quietly, more radical: art reproduces itself through readers who decide to become makers.
The quote also captures the emotional physics of influence. “Imitation” can sound like theft, but paired with “homage” it becomes lineage. You don’t copy to counterfeit; you copy to learn where the seams are. Then she punctures any lingering pretension with that internal monologue: “could I do that? Hmm, let me try.” The “Hmm” is doing heavy lifting, dramatizing the smallness of the decision and the courage inside it. It’s how creative lives often begin: not with a manifesto, but with a test run.
The subtext is permission. “Probably I, like a lot of people” slides the ladder down from the ivory tower. Sittenfeld isn’t guarding the gates; she’s describing the gate as a mirage. This matters in a literary culture that often romanticizes suffering or exceptionalism as the entry fee. Her version is more democratic and, quietly, more radical: art reproduces itself through readers who decide to become makers.
The quote also captures the emotional physics of influence. “Imitation” can sound like theft, but paired with “homage” it becomes lineage. You don’t copy to counterfeit; you copy to learn where the seams are. Then she punctures any lingering pretension with that internal monologue: “could I do that? Hmm, let me try.” The “Hmm” is doing heavy lifting, dramatizing the smallness of the decision and the courage inside it. It’s how creative lives often begin: not with a manifesto, but with a test run.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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