Hilary Liftin Quotes

• No one grows up thinking they want to be a ghostwriter. No one plans on that job.

  Hilary Liftin

  Jobs, Growing Up, Thinking

  "Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily". The Believer interview, logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I'm so used to being separate from the publication process. I turn in the book to the editor and then I'm done.

  Hilary Liftin

  Book, Editors, Done

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I don't think you can take a whole genre of very popular books and say, "This is all trash!" When we read a memoir that isn't by a celebrity, we feel like we're about to go on a journey and we don't know where the journey will lead. But when we read a memoir by a celebrity we feel like we already know the journey and we just want to travel it.

  Hilary Liftin

  Book, Journey, Thinking

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I think that the celebrity memoir as a genre is looked upon as a lesser form. One of my missions as a ghostwriter has been to elevate that form. Maybe that sounds pretentious!

  Hilary Liftin

  Thinking, Genre Is, Sound

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I think one of the big things that's come out of ghostwriting for me is real compassion for the complexity of fame.

  Hilary Liftin

  Real, Thinking, Compassion

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• We exploit celebrities by caring about shallow things like whether they've gotten a facelift. And we violate their children constantly. But we also love them in a way.

  Hilary Liftin

  Children, Caring, Way

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• Lizzie Pepper is pure fiction! The character is pulled from tabloids. But I think we all look at celebrity marriages and invest in them.

  Hilary Liftin

  Character, Thinking, Looks

  "Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily". The Believer interview, logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I’ve taken on some of the emotional weight of the stories I’ve worked on. I was writing about a very difficult time in the life of one of my clients and I burst into tears at a small, crowded café... I’m not a crier at all in my own life. Maybe that’s why I’m a ghostwriter.

  Hilary Liftin

  Taken, Writing, Emotional

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I think people dismiss celebrity memoirs as unreal, contrived and maybe partially made up. But that's definitely not true for anything that I write.

  Hilary Liftin

  Writing, Thinking, People

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I'm handed a bunch of existing data. My job is to put that in the best narrative form. That is a puzzle I love to solve.

  Hilary Liftin

  Jobs, Data, Narrative

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• None of my clients are criminals, but to a much lighter degree that's what goes on. I hear the story, and I hear it with the level of detail that breeds empathy.

  Hilary Liftin

  Empathy, Criminals, Degrees

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• There are certain jobs I don't take because I feel no connection to the person. But if somebody is open with me, and honest about their motivations, and has some level of self-awareness, then I'm going to understand them.

  Hilary Liftin

  Jobs, Motivation, Self

  "Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• Working with somebody who has a more interesting life than I do - and getting to take on that life temporarily - is an endlessly interesting way to have the experience of writing memoir.

  Hilary Liftin

  Writing, Interesting, Way

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

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• I've been writing books without ego for a very long time. I feel like it will get what it deserves. Or won't get what it doesn't deserve.

  Hilary Liftin

  Book, Writing, Long

  "'Getting to Take on That Life Temporarily'". Interview with Kathryn Borel, Jr., logger.believermag.com. July 21, 2015.

  4 Copy quote

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