There are so many separate selves; no one who writes creatively hasn't felt that.
Interpretation
Creativity involves various aspects of one's identity, and every artist experiences this multiplicity of selves.
Jeanette Winterson's quote reflects the complex and multifaceted nature of creativity. It suggests that for creative individuals, particularly writers, there exists a diversity of identities and perspectives that influence their work. Each 'self' represents a different facet of experience or emotion, illustrating how the creative process often requires the writer to tap into various versions of themselves to convey authentic and rich narratives.
In practice
In a workshop on creative writing, you might say this quote to illustrate the complexity of the writing process.
What is remembered is not a deed in stone but a metaphor. Meta = above. Pheren = to carry. That which is carried above the literalness of life. A way of thinking that avoids the problems of gravity. The word won't let me down. The single word that can release me from all that unuttered weight.
Reading things that are relevant to the facts of your life is of limited value. The facts are, after all, only the facts, and the yearning passionate part of you will not be met there. That is why reading ourselves as a fiction as well as fact is so liberating. The wider we read the freer we become.
I have a list of titles that I leave at the [library] desk, because they are bound to be written some day, and it's best to be ahead of the queue.
Woolf wanted to say dangerous things in Orlando but she did not want to say them in the missionary position.
In that house, you will find my heart. You must break in, Henri, and get it back for me.' Was she mad? We had been talking figuratively. Her heart was in her body like mine. I tried to explain this to her, but she took my hand and put it against her chest. Feel for yourself.
History is a string full of knots, the best you can do is admire it, and maybe tie it up a bit more. History is a hammock for swinging and a game for playing.
Books aren't written - they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
I try to bring the audience's own drama - tears and laughter they know about - to them.
Choreography is writing on your feet.
Man must speak, then sing, then dance. The speaking is the brain, the thinking man. The singing is the emotion. The dancing is the Dionysian ecstasy which carries away all.
You do something on television, and so many people see it that it follows you around. It's interesting. I've done a couple of things on TV, and probably more people saw me than in all the movies I've made.
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