Jeff Vandermeer
Jeff Vandermeer
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" VanderMeeris an American New York Times Best Selling writer, editor, teacher, and publisher. He has won the Nebula Award, Rhysling Award, British Fantasy Award, BSFA Award, the World Fantasy Award three times, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Award...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth7 July 1968
CountryUnited States of America
writing fiction helping
I have to have music as a soundtrack to writing fiction. I listen to it at other times, too, but it helps me write.
book reading writing
I've always wrestled with the difference between plot and structure, and after re-reading a lot of writing books I realized I wasn't alone.
mean interesting mind
I like delivering a message, but what I find interesting is providing those details in a different context. Then the readers can make up their minds what it means.
book writing thinking
The best visual book I can think of is Lynda Barry's What It Is, but although I refer to it all the time it's not a creative writing book per se.
stars path flight
Angela Carter, Leonora Carrington, even nonsurrealists like Kafka and Nabokov - writers like these, who create paths between the firmly grounded and flights of fantasy, are my personal North Star.
book envy brain
What I envy about musicians is, they have this more direct relationship with the audience. They don't have to go through words. Sure, the lyrics count, but they go more immediately into your brain. There's so much more work you have to put in as a writer - not just with the actual book, but how it's packaged and everything.
meaningful dream character
A dream inspiring a story is different than placing a description of a dream in a story. When you describe a character's dream, it has to be sharper than reality in some way, and more meaningful. It has to somehow speak to plot, character, and all the rest. If you're writing something fantastical, it can be a really deadly choice because your story already has elements that can seem dreamlike.
marine biologist knows
If I wasn't a writer, I don't know what I'd be. Probably a marine biologist or something.