Dani Shapiro
Dani Shapiro
Daneile Joyce "Dani" Shapiro is the author of five novels and the best-selling memoirs Slow Motion and Devotion. She has also written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and ELLE...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth10 April 1962
CountryUnited States of America
moving hands pages
I'm most connected to myself when I'm alone in a room, moving my hand across a page. That's when I feel most like me.
dream writing breathing
Writing well involves walking the path of most resistance. Sitting still, being patient, allowing the lunatic dream to take shape on the page, then the shaping, the pencil on the page, breathing, slowing down, being willing–no, more than willing, being wide open–to press the bruise until it blossoms.
years two crosses
I could spend two years cross-legged on my floor and feel like I was working.
beautiful jobs mean
There’s a great expression in Twelve Step programs: Act as if. Act as if you’re a writer. Sit down and begin. Act as if you might just create something beautiful, and by beautiful I mean something authentic and universal. Don’t wait for anybody to tell you it’s okay. Take that shimmer and show us our humanity. That’s your job.
kids television-commercials adults
I used to act in television commercials when I was a kid and a young adult.
jobs imagine witness
As writers, it is our job not only to imagine, but to witness.
internet behavior one-thing
I'm very disciplined, but the one thing that I have addictive behavior about is the Internet.
fighting car baths
We don't ruminate during a fight. Maybe in a bath, or driving a car, or as we take a walk. But not right smack in the middle of a dramatic moment.
moving doors urban
There's something about urban life - you walk out your door, and you're in a steady of stream of life happening around you, and it's very easy to get caught up in that stream and simply kind of keep on moving.
dream distance writing
I was in my early thirties writing about my early twenties, so there was this way of seeing my younger self from enough of a distance to have perspective but also not to feel that I had to protect myself. My dreams for myself then would have undersold myself in a way.
teacher eye miracle
Our teachers are everywhere. Our teachers are right in front of us, and take so many forms. All we need to do is to open our eyes, to be open to and aware of the possibilities. Otherwise, we walk sightless among miracles.
public-speaking bigger found
I found myself doing so much public speaking, more and more and bigger and bigger.
pieces want one-piece
I did want to feel like life's all of one piece.
guru social function
If there's anything weirder than an introverted writer going to lots of social functions, it's an introverted writer being converted into an accidental guru.