…she of “Eat Pray Love” and “Big Magic,” now on tour in support of her new novel, ‘City of Girls’ – at Montgomery Bell Academy last night for [email protected] sponsored in part by Parnassus Books.
Nobody should be THAT smart and insightful into the Human Experience. She said so many brilliant things that I’m kicking myself that I did not record it so I can listen to it again (yeah, I know, “no recordings…” When has that ever stopped me? Well for some reason it did this time…)
I did make a few notes, among them:
“There is only one reason why people (don’t do the thing they want to do), and that is because they are afraid.”
“I’m on an ‘Integrity cleanse” – that means only telling the truth.”
“98% of the work I do is research. It’s very analog, I put everything on index cards and compile the cards in shoeboxes; by the time I’m ready to start the actual writing, the book has practically written itself. “
“I keep past, present, and future versions of myself. When Present Liz finds something that Past Liz has left for her, she thanks Past Liz for sending it out to Future Liz.”
“A drunk person can run but can’t walk. Write like a drunk person.”
“The truth has legs,. It’s the only thing that is still standing at the end of the day. It’s where we’re going to wind up, so we may as well start there.”
“There is an intelligence in the universe that wants to communicate with us.”
That last one speaks directly to one of the underlying themes of the Book That I Have Yet To Finish (ttbrown.com)
She said a lot of other too-smart things that I just hope I will recall during the day(s) ahead.
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