Bukowski in a Sundress Quotes

“The truth is that writing is simply not reliable. You can't count on it to be there just because you've made some space for it. In fact, making space might make it disappear. You tell yourself you can't write in the middle of your daily life, with all its distractions and commitments, and when you finally clear the decks, light off for someplace scenic or at least private, you sit there completely paralyzed. You have devoted yourself to writing, but it has not returned your devotion. If writing were a person, you would be in an abusive relationship. The healthy thing to do would be to get a restraining order and shut it right out of your heart.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“You have a vision. The stink of the opossum, or possibly the Kodiak bear, is rising into the air around you, and there is something you absolutely need to say. No one is asking you to say it. You know that, and yet here you are, an army ready to do battle with the forces of silence.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“Know the difference between its and it’s, between lay and lie: you lay the form rejection slip on the table; you lie on the bed filled with the anguish of self-doubt and feelings of utter worthlessness.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“Though now that I think about it, the workshop that day was probably focused on revision, as in Your First Draft Sucks and You Have a Thousand Do-Overs Before You Get It Right. Think of it this way: Build a city, then blow it up to save it. Invent a road to take you far out of town, then start over with one good brick.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“I'd be very good at being rich, but no one has offered to test my talents in that department. ... New York was like a wealthy, handsome, intensely artistic, complex, slightly manic man who, for some inexplicable reason, was enthralled with me. Not that I ever met a man like that. Who needed men anyway? I'll take Manhattan.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“Writing a novel is like having a baby. I know because I've had both, and the experiences were hellish. By comparison, the torture of the damned—plunged into excrement, boiled in blood, beheaded, set upon by harpies—are like love nips from your yippy little dog.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“The truth is that writing is simply not reliable. You can't count on it to be there just because you've made time for it. In fact, making space might make it disappear.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life

“I walk into Summerville and no matter what my mood is it instantly drops about thirty degrees.”
― Kim Addonizio, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life