The only way to learn writing is by writing. Talent, as charming as it sounds, amounts to no more than 12 per cent of the process. Work is 80 per cent. The remaining 8 per cent is ‘luck’ or ‘zeitgeist’ – in short, things that are not in our hands. Elif Safak Read Quote
When I looked at people like Goya and Pina Bausch, the message I got was just do what you’re passionate about. Don’t think about what other people are going to say or how they’re going to receive your work. Just be your work. Elif Safak Read Quote
English, for me, is an acquired language. I started with English at the age of 10. At the time, it was my third language. Elif Safak Read Quote
When I was 10 years old, we moved to Spain with my mother. I learned Spanish before I learned English. But the English language stayed with me. Elif Safak Read Quote
Writing in another language gives me an additional freedom, an additional way of thinking. It’s a challenge, but I like the challenge. Elif Safak Read Quote
If you are a writer from Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, you don’t have the luxury of being apolitical. You can’t say, ‘That’s politics. I’m just doing my work.’ Elif Safak Read Quote
With ‘The Forty Rules of Love,’ I wanted to write a love story. But I wanted a love story with a spiritual dimension. For me, that took me to Rumi. And from Rumi, I went to Shams of Tabriz. That’s how the story took shape. Elif Safak Read Quote
The lack of trust in supranational entities and cosmopolitan elite creates a fertile ground for tribalist belongings and reactionary politics. Elif Safak Read Quote
There are two different ways of writing a novel. The first I call the traditional father way, when the novelist slightly situates himself or herself above the text and knows what each and every character is going to do. It’s a bit like engineering. I’ve never felt close to that tradition. I like the second way, which relies a bit more on intuition. Elif Safak Read Quote
