[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f8w_fENHR5hNYiLlTNprJl3cmdBJF8fRvdVEmu8A3qzM":3,"$fhKu3hqcMJCzV4YS_1wDtvYeRPzFR0dq0tEdvO-xXyF4":18},{"author":4,"tags":13},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":10,"slug":11,"image_url":12},17648,"Amy Hempel","A",112,"Amy Hempel is an American short story writer, journalist, and university teacher born on December 14, 1951, in Chicago.\n\nHempel was educated at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her career has encompassed both fiction and journalism, and she has also worked as a university teacher, bringing her experience as a writer into an instructional context. These roles together have shaped the professional arc of a writer working in English within the United States.\n\nHempel has received two notable distinctions in recognition of her work. She was awarded the PEN/Malamud Award, a prize given in recognition of excellence in the short story form. She also received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a competitive award granted to individuals who have demonstrated capacity in their creative or scholarly fields.\n\nThe short story is the form most consistently associated with Hempel's career as a writer. Her recognition through the PEN/Malamud Award, which is specifically tied to the short story, alongside her Guggenheim Fellowship, places her among American writers who have worked seriously within that genre. As a citizen of the United States writing in English, her career has moved across the roles of short story writer, journalist, and university teacher, and it is the short story that her most formally documented honors address.","Amy Hempel is an American short story writer, journalist, and university teacher born on December 14, 1951, in Chicago.","amy-hempel",null,[14],{"tag_id":15,"tag_name":16,"tag_count":17},56,"thinking",8,{"quotes":19,"pagination":83},[20,28,34,40,46,52,58,64,70,76],{"id":21,"quote_text":22,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":25,"source":26,"quote_tag":27,"commentary":12},2845380,"Look at me. My concerns-are they spiritual, do you think, or carnal? Come on. We’ve read our Shakespeare.",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":29,"quote_text":30,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":31,"source":32,"quote_tag":33,"commentary":12},2845378,"When she sees him, Holly says, it’s like the sunsets at the beach – once the sun drops, the sand chills quickly. Then it’s like a lot of times that were good ten minutes ago and don’t count now.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":35,"quote_text":36,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":37,"source":38,"quote_tag":39,"commentary":12},2845375,"He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn’t good.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":41,"quote_text":42,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":43,"source":44,"quote_tag":45,"commentary":12},2845372,"Maybe this is not a come-down-from-the-ledge story. But I tell it with the thought that the woman on the ledge will ask herself a question, the question that occurred to that man in Bogota. He wondered how we know that what happens to us isn’t good?",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":47,"quote_text":48,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":49,"source":50,"quote_tag":51,"commentary":12},2845368,"I think you would like Warren. He drinks Courvoisier in a Coke can, and has a laugh like you’d find in a cartoon bubble.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":53,"quote_text":54,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":55,"source":56,"quote_tag":57,"commentary":12},2845366,"When the beer is gone, so are they – flexing their cars on up the boulevard.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":59,"quote_text":60,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":61,"source":62,"quote_tag":63,"commentary":12},2845363,"I probably have less revision than those who have that wonderful rush of story to tell – you know, I can’t wait to tell you what happened the other day. It comes tumbling out and maybe then they go back and refine. I kind of envy that way of working, but I just have never done it.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":65,"quote_text":66,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":67,"source":68,"quote_tag":69,"commentary":12},2845360,"The only time the word baby doesn’t scare me is the time that it should, when it is what a man calls me.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":71,"quote_text":72,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":73,"source":74,"quote_tag":75,"commentary":12},2845355,"Obviously, in journalism, you’re confined to what happens. And the tendency to embellish, to mythologize, it’s in us. It makes things more interesting, a closer call. But journalism taught me how to write a sentence that would make someone want to read the next one.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],{"id":77,"quote_text":78,"author_id":5,"source_id":23,"has_image":24,"author":79,"source":80,"quote_tag":81,"commentary":82},2845353,"I’ve always known when I start a story what the last line is. It’s always been the case, since the first story I ever wrote. I don’t know how it’s going to get there, but I seem to need the destination. I need to know where I end up. It never changes, ever.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":11,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":12},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nAmy Hempel, a renowned American short story writer and essayist, shared these thoughts about her writing process in an interview, likely reflecting on her experiences as a mature author who had honed her craft over several decades. This quote is characteristic of her introspective nature and willingness to explore the complexities of creativity.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nOn the surface, Amy Hempel's statement appears to be about being prescient or having a clear vision for one's work. However, upon closer examination, it reveals a paradoxical approach to writing: she seems to need both the freedom to create without a predetermined outcome and the security of knowing exactly where her story will end. This tension between control and surrender is at the heart of Hempel's creative process.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, consider embracing the paradox of needing both clarity on your goals and flexibility in your approach. By acknowledging that you don't need to know every step along the way but can instead focus on having a clear destination in mind, you'll be able to tap into a deeper wellspring of creative potential and navigate even the most challenging projects with greater ease.",{"currentPage":84,"totalPages":85,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":86},1,12,10]