Yuriy Tarnawsky Quotes

#1. I think I view myself primarily as a fiction writer. Poetry is more of a "hobby," a time of rest from the hard work of writing fiction.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#2. Imagination is so much more fertile than life.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#3. I must say that, on the whole, I prefer fiction to poetry.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#4. In fact, the very phrase "teaching creative writing" sounds to me oxymoronic. How can you teach someone to be creative?

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#5. It is true that I didn't write any poetry between 1995 and 2011. The reason for this was probably because I had stayed away from fiction for so long and couldn't tear myself away from it.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#6. That is one more reason why I write in English only right now. I prefer writing in the language I hear around me for the people by whom I am surrounded.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#7. I am uneasy about the practice of other people telling you how to write. This is especially true for beginners who haven't yet developed their style and their writer's persona and are easily pushed off the course.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#8. Except for the usual house chores, doing income tax, etc., I am free to write whenever I want.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#9. I find that biographical material holds me back, hampers my creative process, cramps my imagination.

Yuriy Tarnawsky

#10. How can you teach someone to be creative? You have to create yourself.

Yuriy Tarnawsky