( The Year of Magical Thinking)Īside from advocating writing, Joan would always remind everyone of the importance of reading. In time of trouble, I had been trained since childhood-read, learn, work it up, go to the literature. After all, there’s a sense of clarity when you write things down. When asked about her writing process, Joan shared how everything would unfold as she wrote.

I don’t know what I think until I write it down. WRITE IT DOWN Two of Joan Didion's immortal books Blue Nights and The Year of Magical Thinking Using them to honor Joan Didion’s memory is one reason I never thought would be part of the list. I noted them down for many reasons, to further understand them, turn them into personal proverbs, share them with my students in class, and so much more. I was so captivated by Joan’s prose that I took on a personal mission to read all of her books.Īfter everything I’ve read by Joan Didion so far, I always find myself talking about and going back to this quote from Slouching Towards Bethlehem: “See enough and write it down.” Putting it into practice, I’ve written down almost a hundred Joan Didion quotes. Immediately after reading the book, I wanted more. It remains, to this day, one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. Luckily and because I went on and on about it, a dear friend gifted it to me a few days later. I stopped and stared at the copy of her book The Year of Magical Thinking, then told myself I was going to buy it when I received my next salary. I first saw the name Joan Didion while I was browsing the shelves of Fully Booked many years ago. I first heard the name Joan Didion on The Devil Wears Prada, the part where Andy told Nate that there was more to Runway than just fancy purses, citing Jay McInerney, Joan Didion, and Christiane Amanpour.

The former is fictional, of course, while the latter is real-real to me now more than ever. Creating a sense of definition in my life, I always say that I’m guided by two writers: Carrie Bradshaw and Joan Didion.

Slouching towards bethlehem author joan