Literary Birthday – 3 September – Adriana Trigiani

Happy Birthday, Adriana Trigiani, born 3 September 1969.

10 Quotes

1. Writing is writing. It’s an abiding, wonderful talent, craft, gift that stays with you your whole life. And you can go in different forms, and you can try them. Look at me: I’m writing novels because I found something I love because I tried it.
2. Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
3. A handwritten letter carries a lot of risk. It’s a one-sided conversation that reveals the truth of the writer. Furthermore, the writer is not there to see the reaction of the person he writes to, so there’s a great unknown to the process that requires a leap of faith. The writer has to choose the right words to express his sentences, and then, once he has sealed the envelope, he has to place those thoughts in the hands of someone else, trusting that the feelings will be delivered, and that the recipient will understand the writer’s intent. How childish to think that could be easy.
4. Moments are history. If you have enough of them, they become a story.
5. You never know when some small thing will lead to a big idea. Travel is very inspirational – but it’s in the ordinary that I find my themes of love and work and family.
6. And so, when I was a young writer I always worked hard on imagery, and I knew that the roots of imagery were the senses – and that if my readers could feel, taste, and see what I was talking about, I would be able to tell them a story.
7. I care what my reader thinks.
8. I fell in love with reading when I was allowed to choose whatever books I wanted to check out of the library.
9. I’m very organised – and the best thing – when you love your work, you don’t mind putting in 15 hour days. It’s joyful.
10. I began as a dramatist in the theatre, so I’m always thinking about how a story moves, what it looks like, how to engage the senses, how dialogue sounds, what feels authentic and sounds real, what’s funny, how to build distinctive and original characters – all the aspects of playwriting, scene-building, the architecture of dramatising.

Adriana Trigiani is an Italian-American best-selling author of eighteen books. She is also a television writer, a film director, and an entrepreneur. Her books include Big Cherry Holler, Big Stone Gap, and Kiss Carlo.

Read: The Writers Write Interview – Adriana Trigiani

Source for image: Author about page adrianatrigiani.com/about-adriana/

by Amanda Patterson

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