“The
thing that makes vivid writing is when the reader is in the body of the story,
the body of the character. Things smell like something; there's weather,
there's texture, there's light.” – Janet Fitch
Born on this date in 1955, Fitch
grew up in a family of voracious readers, but didn’t think about writing until
she had completed her education at Reed College in Oregon. As an undergraduate at Reed, she had decided
to become a historian, attracted to its powerful narratives, the scope of
events, the colossal personalities, and the potency and breadth of its themes.
But when she won a student exchange
to Keele University in England,
she awoke in the middle of the night on her 21st birthday with the revelation
she wanted to write fiction, and that’s what she’s done. Among her award-winning works are the
wonderful (and intense) White Oleander.
Born and raised in Los Angeles,
Fitch has now gravitated back to her old stomping grounds and is a faculty
member in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of
Southern California, where she teaches fiction.
Among her ongoing words of advice to
her 
students
is to remember that the protagonist is the reader's portal into the story. “The
more observant he or she can be, the more vivid will be the world you're
creating,” she said.
As
for what serves as her personal muse? “I always read poetry before I
write, to sensitize me to the rhythms and music of language.”
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