At the Creative Independent, Lauren Oyler discusses how writing literary criticism helped her define the intentional, dynamic style she wanted in her own fiction. “I think writing criticism helped me be very intentional with everything that I was putting in,” Oyler says. “Everything I put in is there for a reason, even if the reason is just ‘this is funny.’ I’m not making sure every sentence is a perfect diamond because I don’t think that that’s possible. I wanted the book to feel alive and energetic, like something that sometimes has made rather than produced in a factory.”
Shifting from Criticism to Fiction with Lauren Oyler
