Ann Beattie on Interruptions

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Ann Beattie on interruptions in fiction:

“Often I use a non sequitur or a stranger saying something out of the blue as a way to change the emotional register. My students make fun of me for saying, I’ve read this carefully now, and you’ve written it carefully — too carefully. The phone never rings, people get to talk for four pages without interruption. We’re used to daily life being the fire buy medication online truck coming by with its deafening siren. To put that siren in fiction — and not at the convenient moment, but maybe a minute before the convenient moment, or way after the convenient moment — is a kind of acknowledgment to the reader that you’re aware there’s another life out there that’s out of control. As a writer, it’s an advantage to work within open-ended, messy moments.”

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One thought on “Ann Beattie on Interruptions

  1. I love this. Reminds me of the movie, In The Bedroom, which so beautifully captured the peripheral aspects of life going on around the primary action and conflict, e.g., Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek in a screaming fight, interrupted by a little girl ringing the doorbell to sell them school fundraiser candy. So effective, and good to remember this kind of thing.