how to describe jealousy in creative writing

The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus , a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus , releases May 13th.

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Emotion Thesaurus Entry: Jealousy

March 6, 2008 by ANGELA ACKERMAN

When it comes to emotion, sometimes we need a brainstorming nudge. After all, each character will express their feelings differently depending on their personality, emotional range, and comfort zone. We hope this short, sample list of expressions will help you better imagine how your character might show this emotion!

how to describe jealousy in creative writing

If you need to go deeper , we have detailed lists of body language, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and mental responses for 130 emotions in the 2019 expanded second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression .

Sullen looks, glowering
Hot eyes, tears forming
Sitting against a wall, holding the knees to the chest and staring off angrily
Minor destruction as a release (crumpling paper or breaking pencils)
Rash decisions (impulsively quitting a team or storming out of a party)
Jeering, calling names, running someone down
Starting rumors, acting catty
Shoving the person who caused the jealous feelings
Showing off
A desire for revenge
Reckless behavior (trusting a stranger, using drugs or alcohol…

Win your readers’ hearts by tailoring your character’s emotional responses so they’re compelling, credible, and realistic.

Prefer the flexibility of instant online access and greater searchability?

The Emotion Thesaurus is also at our sister site, One Stop for Writers . Visit the Emotion Thesaurus Page to view our complete list of entries.

TIP: While you’re there, check out our hyper-intelligent Character Builder that helps you create deep, memorable characters in half the time !

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers , a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Reader Interactions

May 28, 2020 at 2:41 pm

So good! Thank you! I’ve just purchased 4 of your books because of this one post.

May 29, 2020 at 10:37 am

Oh, I’m so glad to hear it, Tammy. Happy that this post and our books are helping you out. Best of luck!

August 16, 2011 at 9:14 am

This blog is great. I have a character in my story who’s jealous of my M.C. and all I have so far is “he was jealous” statements, that get boring after a while.

August 8, 2008 at 8:12 pm

I was just told by a publisher purchasing my work to remove all “she was jealous” type statements and replace with showing…

Here is where I went immediately. 😀

Cookies and flowers to you guys for the theasurus!

March 6, 2008 at 3:20 pm

Jay! Another entry for the emotion thesaurus. Thanks.

Your faithful lurker. 🙂

[…] Conveying Jealousy […]

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How to Describe Jealousy in Writing: Examples, Benefits and Tips

By Happy Sharer

Introduction

Jealousy is a complex emotion that can arise when someone feels threatened by perceived competition from another person or entity. It is often characterized by feelings of insecurity, fear of abandonment, suspicion, and envy. While jealousy is a natural emotion, it can also become destructive if it becomes too intense or prolonged. Writing about jealousy can be a challenging task, as it is often difficult to convey its complexities with words. In this article, we will explore how to describe jealousy in writing, providing examples, benefits, and tips.

Use imagery to illustrate the feeling of jealousy

Imagery is one of the most powerful tools for conveying emotions in writing. To accurately describe jealousy in writing, it’s important to use vivid images that capture the intensity and complexity of the emotion. For example, you might compare jealousy to a storm raging inside someone’s chest, or to an invisible leash that binds two people together. Imagery can help readers to empathize with the character and understand their emotional state more deeply.

Show how jealousy can cause physical reactions

In addition to emotional reactions, jealousy can also elicit physical responses. These physical reactions can range from a racing heart to clammy hands to clenched fists. Describing these physical reactions can help to further illustrate the intensity of the emotion. For example, you could write that “his heart raced as he watched the couple dancing together, his fists clenching at his sides.” This type of detail can make the scene come alive for the reader and give them a better understanding of the character’s emotional state.

Describe thoughts and emotions that come with jealousy

When describing jealousy, it’s also important to include the thoughts and emotions that accompany it. These can include feelings of insecurity, fear of abandonment, suspicion, anger, and envy. You can illustrate these thoughts and emotions by showing how they play out in the character’s behavior. For example, you might write that the character “was consumed by thoughts of betrayal, her suspicions growing with every passing minute.” This type of detail can help readers to connect with the character on a deeper level and understand their inner turmoil.

Demonstrate how jealousy can manifest itself in behavior

When writing about jealousy, it’s important to show how the emotion manifests itself in the character’s behavior. This can include both verbal and physical actions, such as lashing out at others, withdrawing from social situations, or avoiding certain topics of conversation. By demonstrating how jealousy affects the character’s behavior, you can help readers to better understand the emotion and its effects on the character.

Show how jealousy can lead to irrational thoughts and decisions

Jealousy can lead to irrational thoughts and decisions, which can have lasting consequences. It’s important to portray these irrational thoughts and decisions in order to demonstrate how the emotion can affect the character’s behavior. For example, you might write that “in his jealousy, he made a rash decision that would haunt him for years to come.” This type of detail can help readers to gain insight into the character’s thought process and make them more sympathetic to their struggle.

Share anecdotes from other people who have experienced jealousy

Another effective way to describe jealousy in writing is to share anecdotes from other people who have experienced the emotion. Anecdotes can help to bring the emotion to life for the reader and add depth to your story. For example, you might include a quote from someone who has dealt with jealousy in the past, or a story about a time when jealousy affected someone’s life. These types of anecdotes can help readers to connect with the character on a personal level and understand the emotion in a new light.

Highlight the contrast between jealousy and envy

It’s also important to highlight the contrast between jealousy and envy in order to accurately portray the emotion. While jealousy is an emotion that arises when someone feels threatened by perceived competition, envy is an emotion that arises when someone desires something that someone else has. By contrasting these two emotions, you can help readers to better understand the nuances of jealousy and how it differs from envy.

In conclusion, jealousy is a complex emotion that can be difficult to accurately portray in writing. However, by using imagery, physical reactions, emotions, behaviors, irrational thoughts, anecdotes, and the contrast between jealousy and envy, you can effectively describe jealousy in your writing. By doing so, you can help readers to empathize with the characters and understand their struggles in a more meaningful way.

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Hi, I'm Happy Sharer and I love sharing interesting and useful knowledge with others. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way.

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19,890 quotes, descriptions and writing prompts, 4,964 themes

jealousy - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

a toxic culture
jealous world
sexual jealousy

Jealousy is so last season, empathy is what's on all the catwalks.

Jealousy eats you up from within until you are a zombie corpse, feasting on the hive-mind.

Jealousy is easier to see than one might expect, it for sure has no cloak of invisibility.

One who grows their passions and own sense of mission is too happy to develop jealousy.

Jealousy is lousy, you should upgrade to cheerleader.

When you follow your own dreams, the reason for your birth, jealousy will evaporate.

The one who follows their divine passions and path, has vices replaced by virtue automatically.

Stupid Eric is giggling again, unmanly it is, his muscles are shaking and tears stream from his half closed eyes. I hold my breath behind pursed lips to steel myself against the gales of laughter to come. They always do. I know what's happened, Sarah just told a lame joke and now their bonding over it in their j-crew vanilla clothes. Well I won't be here next week, I'm off to Hawaii by myself. The brochure looks amazing and I'm travelling first class all the way. Now Eric's telling some lame story about his kid, I know he is without listening to the words. His face is lit up brighter than a toothpaste commercial and he has that soft look on his face. Makes we wanna hurl. Thank God I've got a facial after work, I can put all this crap behind me and de-stress.

Jealousy is often an expression of insecurity and thus its fixing requires internal reflection and addressing matters of self esteem.

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Jealousy – How To Craft The Perfectly Jealous Character To Catalyze Conflict In Your Novel

This is one emotion that we all know and have experienced to some degree. Feeling jealous of others is probably not your favourite emotion, but it’s a catalyst for conflict in your story or between your characters. Jealousy can make your character feel more relatable and real to your reader.

Jealousy in writing is effective when it helps a character realise what they really want and how badly they want it. This emotion does not have to be central to the plot of your story; it can be understated and supported by anger or fear.

It comes across in simple examples like a villain who is jealous of the hero, when two characters want one thing/ have the same goal or when one character is more successful than the other.

How to write about a jealous character:

Know the types of jealousy:

Sexual Jealousy – when a character’s spouse or significant other displays or expresses sexual interest in someone other than your character.
Romantic Jealousy – when your character fears the loss of a romantic partner or fears rejection from a potential or current romantic partner.
Possessive Jealousy – when he/she is feeling threatened by someone who could interrupt a friendship or relationship that they value.
Separation Jealousy – when your character has fear of separation or loss of a lover, partner, friend or parent due to their relationship with another person.
Work Jealousy – when your character feels cheated out of a promotion at work, or feels jealousy towards a specific person at work.
Friend/ Sibling Jealousy – When he/she feels inadequate when comparing themselves to their friends/family/siblings. They always try to one-up their friend/sibling.
Abnormal Jealousy – extreme psychological jealousy that results in or a combination of morbid, psychotic, psychological, delusional, anxious, controlling, immature and insecure behavior.

Understand what fuels your character’s jealousy

Is it confusion, frustration, powerlessness, rejection, worry, insecurity, immaturity, poor self-esteem, underachievement, possessiveness, shame, paranoia, humiliation, fear of loss, suspicion, loneliness, distrust or a combination of these?

How does jealousy affect your character physically?

Do they have an increased heart rate or body temperature? Do they become angry and clench their fist, have verbal outbursts, stare downs and tensed muscles? Do they become quiet and have a dry mouth?

How does your character react towards others or the person they are jealous of?

Does he or she:

Make up stories or gossip about the person they are jealous of so that others will have negative feelings towards the same person.
Feel overwhelmed and underachieve in every sphere of their life.
Avoid the person all together.
Take up a bad habit or addiction in an attempt to deal with their feelings.
Become obsessed about something like over exercising and dieting to beat their rival in a tournament or something more sinister like plotting another character’s demise.
Manipulate others into feeling sorry for them.
Over criticize themselves and everything they do.
Harm themselves, their environment or others.
Show a blatant disregard for the needs and desires of others to fulfill their own.
Bully or intimidate the people around them to gain a false sense of power.
Abuse others physically or psychologically.
Flaunt their wealth, fame, intelligence, status, beauty, etc. to mask their own insecurities.

Why does your story need jealousy?

The physical fight or confrontation that results from jealous behavior advances your plot.

It reveals facets of your character that your reader may not expect.

It is a way for you to show how jealousy affects your character and how they deal with it.

Here are some questions to help you craft a jealous character:

What is important to your character?

Who or what is your character jealous of?

How does this jealous feeling affect your character?

What does this tell your reader about them?

Does this jealousy stem from anger or fear?

What is your character fighting for?

Why does he/she feel insecure?

Is their jealousy justified?

How do they express this jealousy?

Is jealousy part of their personality or is it a fleeting emotion?

How does he/she resolve or plan to resolve the feeling of jealousy?

Questions To Help You Craft A Jealous Character.jpg

Famous movies and books that have jealous characters:

Othello, Mean Girls, The Breakfast Club, Bridesmaids, Ratatouille, Atonement, Beauty and The Beast, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, Titanic, The Danish Girl, Gone With The Wind, Brooklyn, Moulin Rouge!, Edward Scissorhands, Peter Pan, West Side Story, The Girl on the Train and Persuasion.

Do you use jealousy as a theme in your stories? Do you have any tips for crafting jealous characters? Who is your favourite jealous character of all time? What is your favourite movie/series/book that has a jealous character? Let me know by commenting below!

Love and Blessings,

Feel free to follow me on social media:

Visit my Amazon Author Page and support me by buying a book or two or drop me an email at [email protected].

Published by Lindsay

Hi there! I’m Lindsay, a passionate self-published author of 29 books, self-taught illustrator, wife and mom living in Nairobi. When I’m not working you’ll find me eating pizza, binging on reality TV, Pinning, crafting or baking. Join me as I learn more about myself and show you how to love life daily! View all posts by Lindsay

2 thoughts on “ Jealousy – How To Craft The Perfectly Jealous Character To Catalyze Conflict In Your Novel ”

Edmund from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a pretty developed jealous character. Loved that book as a kid

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100+ Jealous Character Traits

The ProWritingAid Team

Possible causes of being jealous, attitudes related to being jealous, thoughts and struggles associated with being jealous, emotions related to jealousy, facial expressions associated with being jealous, body language related to being jealous, behaviors associated with being jealous, growth and evolution of jealous characters, stereotypes of jealous characters to avoid, negatives of being jealous, positives of being jealous, verbal expressions of jealous characters, relationships of jealous characters, examples from books of characters who are jealous, writing exercises for writing jealous characters.

To engage your reader, it's important to always show, not tell, the traits of your characters.

Jealousy is a complex emotion that is often triggered by a perceived threat to one's relationship, possessions, or status. People who are jealous may experience feelings of envy, suspicion, and insecurity, and they may engage in behaviors such as possessiveness, aggression, or manipulation. Jealousy can be a negative trait when it leads to harmful actions or thoughts, but it can also be a natural and healthy response in certain situations, such as when it motivates people to protect their loved ones or strive for personal growth.

As a writer, portraying jealousy in a nuanced and realistic way can add depth and complexity to your characters and make them more relatable to your readers.

You might want to weave these into your jealous character's backstory to build a more believable character:

Mental health issues such as anxiety or personality disorders

Lack of trust in others

Childhood experiences of neglect or lack of attention

Unresolved emotional issues or traumas

Cultural or societal influences that value possessiveness or competition

Fear of abandonment or rejection

Past experiences of betrayal or infidelity

Low self-esteem or self-worth

Insecurity about themselves or their relationships

You may be able to show jealousy through your character's attitudes:

Insecurity about one's worth or position

Fear of losing something or someone valuable

Self-doubt and self-criticism regarding one's ability to compete or succeed

Envy toward others' possessions, achievements, or relationships

Resentment toward those who seem to have advantages or privileges

Suspicion and paranoia of others' actions or intentions

Obsessive thoughts or behaviors related to the object of jealousy

Anger or hostility toward those who threaten the object of jealousy

Here are some ideas for things your jealous character may think or struggle with:

Difficulty trusting others, especially those who have relationships with the person or thing they are jealous of

Difficulty feeling happy for others' successes

Constantly comparing themselves to others and feeling inferior

Guilt and shame for their jealous thoughts and actions

The need for validation and reassurance from others to feel secure

Obsessive thoughts and behaviors regarding the person or thing they are jealous of

Fear of losing what they have to someone else

Feeling threatened by anyone who seems to pose a threat to their desired object or person

Insecurity and low self-esteem

Here are some ideas for emotions your jealous character may experience:

Possessiveness

Obsessiveness

Fear of loss

Inferiority complex

Here are some facial expressions your jealous character may exhibit:

Clenched teeth

Flared nostrils

Tightened jaw

Furrowed eyebrows

Sneering or curling upper lip

Tense or rigid facial muscles

Heavy sighs or grunts

Narrowed eyes

Intense or piercing gaze

Here is some body language your jealous character may exhibit:

Frowning or scowling

Glaring or staring

Clenched jaw

Tightened fists

Tense facial expression

Stiff posture

Crossed arms

Pacing or restlessness

Here are some behaviors your jealous character may exhibit.

Competing with others to prove their worth or superiority

Sabotaging the success or happiness of others due to envy

Becoming irrationally angry or upset when a partner talks to or spends time with someone of the opposite sex

Comparing themselves to others and feeling inadequate or inferior

Feeling possessive or controlling in relationships

Feeling resentment or bitterness toward someone who has something they desire or covet

Obsessively checking a partner's phone or social media accounts

Here are some ways that your jealous character may grow and evolve over time:

Acknowledging and accepting their jealousy as a flaw

Practicing empathy and putting themselves in other characters' shoes

Letting go of control and learning to trust others

Forgiving themselves and others for past mistakes and misunderstandings

Attempting to understand the root causes of their jealousy

Recognizing and celebrating others' successes instead of feeling threatened by them

Making amends and actively working to repair damaged relationships

Learning to communicate their feelings in a healthy way

Developing a sense of self-worth and confidence independent of others

Try to avoid writing stereotypical jealous characters like these examples:

Don't make the character jealous to the point where they become unsympathetic or unlikable to readers.

Avoid making the character resort to extreme or violent behavior due to their jealousy.

Avoid making the character jealous in every situation or toward every character.

Don't make the character jealous without a clear reason or motivation.

Don't make the character overly possessive or controlling.

Avoid making the jealous character one-dimensional or solely focused on their jealousy.

Here are some potential negatives of being jealous. Note: These are subjective, and some might also be seen as positives depending on the context.

Jealousy can lead to negative emotions, such as resentment, anger, and bitterness.

Jealousy can damage relationships and create a toxic environment.

Jealousy can lead to irrational behavior and poor decision-making.

Jealousy can cause individuals to become possessive and controlling.

Here are some potential positives of being jealous. Note: These are subjective, and some might also be seen as negatives depending on the context.

Can lead to open and honest communication about feelings and concerns

Provides motivation to improve oneself

Helps identify what one values and desires in a relationship or situation

Can be a sign of deep emotional attachment and care

Here are some potential expressions used by jealous characters:

"You're mine, not theirs."

"I don't want anyone else to have what we have."

"I don't like the way they look at you."

"You're hiding something from me."

"Why do they always get the attention?"

"I just want to know everything about your day."

"I can't believe you would do that to me."

"I saw you talking to them; what were you saying?"

"You're spending too much time with them."

Here are some ways that being jealous could affect your character's relationships:

They might try to isolate their partner from others, making it difficult for them to maintain other relationships.

They might become possessive and controlling, limiting their partner's freedom and social interactions.

They may become angry or upset when their partner spends time with friends or family without them.

They may constantly check their partner's phone or social media accounts for signs of infidelity.

They might become emotionally manipulative, using their jealousy to guilt their partner into doing what they want.

They may become physically or emotionally abusive in extreme cases of jealousy.

They may hold grudges or keep a scorecard of perceived wrongs, leading to resentment and further jealousy.

They might feel threatened by their partner's friendships with members of the opposite sex.

They might become suspicious or accusatory without cause, leading to arguments and tension in the relationship.

It's important to remember that jealousy is a complex emotion and can manifest differently in different people and relationships. If you or someone you know is struggling with jealousy in a relationship, seeking professional help is often the best course of action.

Humbert Humbert from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Catherine Earnshaw from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront ë

Amy Dunne from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Tom Buchanan from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Iago from Othello by William Shakespeare

Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront ë

Here are some writing exercises you might try for learning to write jealous characters:

Write a scene from the perspective of a character who is the object of jealousy. How do they perceive the jealous character's behavior toward them?

Put your character in a situation where they must confront their jealousy. How do they handle it? Do they overcome their envy, or does it consume them?

Think about a time when you felt jealous. What triggered the feeling? How did you react? Try to describe the physical and emotional sensations you experienced.

Consider the different ways jealousy can manifest itself. Is your character passive-aggressive or do they lash out? Do they become obsessive or withdrawn?

Write a scene where a character sees someone they envy succeed in something they themselves have failed at. How does the character react? Do they try to hide their jealousy or confront it head-on?

Create a character who is envious of someone close to them. What are they jealous of? How does this affect their behavior toward the other person?

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Definition:, physical signals and behaviors:, internal sensations:, mental responses:, cues of acute or long term jealousy:, may escalate to:, cues of suppressed jealousy:, may de-escalate to:, associated power verbs:.

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Why Envy Will Keep Us From Writing - Writer's Life.org

There are many reasons why jealousy in creative writing rears its ugly head. Writing envy can be a real problem that stops you from getting on with the task in hand. When it's really bad, it can stop you from writing altogether.

There are many reasons writers don’t write. We procrastinate, worry, or seem to run out of things to say. However one reason that perhaps is less common than these is jealousy. Many writers suffer from writers envy, and when the green-eyed monster strikes we perhaps, at the time, don’t realise just how negative its effect can be. Envy is an unpleasant trait under any circumstances, but if we let writers envy consume us it can actually stop us writing altogether. So why will envy keep us from writing, and what can we do to change it?

Jealousy in creative writing -understanding why

The first step towards taking control of your jealous feelings and using them to your advantage is to understand why you feel that way in the first place. It is difficult to admit that you are feeling jealous - it is an ugly emotion. But if you can then you can start to understand what catalysed it in the first place. Jealousy usually springs from our own anxiety, and a sense of uncomfortableness in our own skin. We are jealous of others because we believe they have done better than us, so it is our own shortcomings that are the problem, rather than their success. Concentrating on our own goals, working on them and striving for our own success is far more productive then angrily moaning about someone who has already got there.

Accept it, and use it

If you catch yourself feeling jealous then explore it a little further. You are jealous of the success of one of your peers? OK that’s fine. Instead of beating yourself up about it and allowing it to slow you down, use it as motivation to do better, and learn from it. What did that person do to achieve their success, was it hard work or luck? If it was the latter you might just have to accept that some people do just get lucky. It is not ‘unfair’ it is just life - how about the hard work route? Believe it or not that works for people too! If you want it enough and have a positive attitude there is no reason why you shouldn't achieve all of your goals.

Be gracious

If you notice jealousy in creative writing and find yourself envious of someone else's achievements, congratulate them. You may secretly be thinking, ‘why them and not me?’ but going up and talking to that person might just answer that question. It is easy to create a false persona to fit around those we are jealous of, we tend not to like them for no other reason than they have achieved something that we also want to achieve. Making them into an actual human being by talking to them makes it harder to do this, and you may end up feeling genuinely happy for them after all.

Have no fear

People can end up rather afraid of their jealousy, which can mean they avoid situations where chances of feeling that way are high. You might find yourself suddenly too busy to go to that writers group you used to enjoy so much. You might even get yourself so worked up because of jealous emotions that you feel you may as well give up writing forever. Whatever you do, don’t let jealousy win.

The thing to remember is that jealousy happens to us all. You are not a bad person if you feel envious of someone else’s achievements, it means you have ambition. Just remember it is how you handle your jealousy that counts, so learn to live with it and use it, and if you can’t do that, then simply let it go.

So now you know about jealousy in creative writing and what to do about it, why not learn mroe about how to stop runing your writing by comparing it to others?

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Describing Sadness in Creative Writing: 33 Ways to Capture the Blues

By: Author Paul Jenkins

Posted on August 25, 2023

Categories Creative Writing , Writing

Describing sadness in creative writing can be a challenging task for any writer.

Sadness is an emotion that can be felt in different ways, and it’s important to be able to convey it in a way that is authentic and relatable to readers. Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, or even a poem, the ability to describe sadness can make or break a story.

Understanding sadness in writing is essential to creating a believable character or scene. Sadness is a complex emotion that can be caused by a variety of factors, such as loss, disappointment, or loneliness. It’s important to consider the context in which the sadness is occurring, as this can influence the way it is expressed.

By exploring the emotional spectrum of characters and the physical manifestations of sadness, writers can create a more authentic portrayal of the emotion.

In this article, we will explore the different ways to describe sadness in creative writing. We will discuss the emotional spectrum of characters, the physical manifestations of sadness, and the language and dialogue used to express it. We’ll also look at expert views on emotion and provide unique examples of describing sadness.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how to authentically convey sadness in your writing.

Key Takeaways

Understanding the emotional spectrum of characters is essential to creating a believable portrayal of sadness.
Physical manifestations of sadness can be used to convey the emotion in a more authentic way.
Authenticity in describing sadness can be achieved through language and dialogue, as well as expert views on emotion.

33 Ways to Express Sadness in Creative Writing

Let’s start with some concrete examples of sadness metaphors and similes:

Here are 33 ways to express sadness in creative writing:

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as a tear rolled down her cheek.
His eyes glistened with unleashed tears that he quickly blinked away.
Her heart felt like it was being squeezed by a cold, metal fist.
A profound emptiness opened up inside him, threatening to swallow him whole.
An avalanche of sorrow crashed over her without warning.
His spirit sank like a stone in water.
A dark cloud of grief descended on her.
Waves of sadness washed over him, pulling him under.
She felt like she was drowning in an ocean of melancholy.
His eyes darkened with sadness like a gathering storm.
Grief enveloped her like a wet blanket, heavy and smothering.
The light in his eyes dimmed to a flicker behind tears.
Sadness seeped through her veins like icy slush.
The corners of his mouth drooped like a wilting flower.
Her breath came in short, ragged gasps between sobs.
A profound melancholy oozed from his pores.
The weight of despair crushed her like a vice.
A haunted, hollow look glazed over his eyes.
An invisible hand squeezed her heart, wringing out all joy.
His soul curdled like spoiled milk.
A silent scream lodged in her throat.
He was consumed by a fathomless gloom.
Sorrow pulsed through her veins with every beat of her heart.
Grief blanketed him like new-fallen snow, numbing and icy.
Tears stung her eyes like shards of glass.
A cold, dark abyss of sadness swallowed him.
Melancholy seeped from her like rain from a leaky roof.
His spirit shriveled and sank like a deflating balloon.
A sick, hollow ache blossomed inside her.
Rivulets of anguish trickled down his cheeks.
Sadness smothered her like a poisonous fog.
Gloom settled on his shoulders like a black shroud.
Her sorrow poured out in a river of tears.

Understanding Sadness in Writing

Describing sadness in writing can be a challenging task.

Sadness is a complex emotion that can manifest in different ways. It can be expressed through tears, sighs, silence, or even a simple change in posture. As a writer, you need to be able to convey sadness effectively to your readers, while also avoiding cliches and melodrama.

One way to approach describing sadness is to focus on the physical sensations and reactions that accompany it. For example, you might describe the feeling of a lump in your throat, or the tightness in your chest. You could also describe the way your eyes become watery, or the way your hands tremble.

These physical descriptions can help your readers to empathize with your characters and feel the same emotions.

Another important aspect of describing sadness is the tone of your writing. You want to strike a balance between conveying the depth of the emotion and avoiding excessive sentimentality.

One way to achieve this is to use simple, direct language that conveys the emotion without resorting to flowery language or overwrought metaphors.

When describing sadness, it’s also important to consider the context in which it occurs. Sadness can be a response to many different situations, such as loss, disappointment, or rejection. It can also be accompanied by other emotions, such as anger, confusion, or melancholy.

By considering the context and accompanying emotions, you can create a more nuanced and realistic portrayal of sadness in your writing.

Finally, it can be helpful to draw on examples of how other writers have successfully described sadness. By studying the techniques and descriptions used by other writers, you can gain a better understanding of how to effectively convey sadness in your own writing.

In conclusion, describing sadness in writing requires a careful balance of physical descriptions, tone, context, and examples. By focusing on these elements, you can create a more nuanced and effective portrayal of this complex emotion.

Emotional Spectrum in Characters

In creative writing, it’s important to create characters that are multi-dimensional and have a wide range of emotions. When it comes to describing sadness, it’s essential to understand the emotional spectrum of characters and how they respond to different situations.

Characters can experience a variety of emotions, including love, happiness, surprise, anger, fear, nervousness, and more.

Each character has a unique personality that influences their emotional responses. For example, a protagonist might respond to sadness with a broken heart, dismay, or feeling desolate.

On the other hand, a character might respond with anger, contempt, or apathy.

When describing sadness, it’s important to consider the emotional response of the character. For example, a haunted character might respond to sadness with exhaustion or a sense of being drained. A crestfallen character might respond with a sense of defeat or disappointment.

It’s also important to consider how sadness affects the character’s personality. Some characters might become withdrawn or depressed, while others might become more emotional or volatile. When describing sadness, it’s important to show how it affects the character’s behavior and interactions with others.

Overall, the emotional spectrum of characters is an important aspect of creative writing. By understanding how characters respond to different emotions, you can create more realistic and relatable characters. When describing sadness, it’s important to consider the character’s emotional response, personality, and behavior.

Physical Manifestations of Sadness

When you’re feeling sad, it’s not just an emotion that you experience mentally. It can also manifest physically. Here are some physical manifestations of sadness that you can use in your creative writing to make your characters more believable.

Tears are one of the most common physical manifestations of sadness. When you’re feeling sad, your eyes may start to water, and tears may fall down your cheeks. Tears can be used to show that a character is feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

Crying is another physical manifestation of sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may cry. Crying can be used to show that a character is feeling deeply hurt or upset.

Numbness is a physical sensation that can accompany sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may feel emotionally numb. This can be used to show that a character is feeling disconnected from their emotions.

Facial Expressions

Facial expressions can also be used to show sadness. When you’re feeling sad, your face may droop, and your eyes may look downcast. This can be used to show that a character is feeling down or depressed.

Gestures can also be used to show sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may slump your shoulders or hang your head. This can be used to show that a character is feeling defeated or hopeless.

Body Language

Body language can also be used to show sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may cross your arms or hunch over. This can be used to show that a character is feeling closed off or defensive.

Cold and Heat

Sadness can also affect your body temperature. When you’re feeling sad, you may feel cold or hot. This can be used to show that a character is feeling uncomfortable or out of place.

Sobbing is another physical manifestation of sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may sob uncontrollably. This can be used to show that a character is feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

Sweating is another physical manifestation of sadness. When you’re feeling sad, you may sweat profusely. This can be used to show that a character is feeling anxious or nervous.

By using these physical manifestations of sadness in your writing, you can make your characters more realistic and relatable. Remember to use them sparingly and only when they are relevant to the story.

Authenticity in Describing Sadness

When it comes to describing sadness in creative writing, authenticity is key. Readers can tell when an author is not being genuine, and it can make the story feel less impactful. In order to authentically describe sadness, it’s important to tap into your own emotions and experiences.

Think about a time when you felt truly sad. What did it feel like? What physical sensations did you experience? How did your thoughts and emotions change? By tapping into your own experiences, you can better convey the emotions of your characters.

It’s also important to remember that sadness can manifest in different ways for different people. Some people may cry, while others may become withdrawn or angry. By understanding the unique ways that sadness can present itself, you can create more authentic and realistic characters.

If you’re struggling to authentically describe sadness, consider talking to a loved one or best friend about their experiences. Hearing firsthand accounts can help you better understand the nuances of the emotion.

Ultimately, the key to authentically describing sadness is to approach it with empathy and understanding. By putting yourself in the shoes of your characters and readers, you can create a powerful and impactful story that resonates with your audience.

Language and Dialogue in Expressing Sadness

When writing about sadness, the language you use can make a big difference in how your readers will perceive the emotions of your characters.

Consider using metaphors and similes to create vivid images that will help your readers connect with the emotions of your characters.

For example, you might describe the sadness as a heavy weight on the character’s chest or a dark cloud hanging over their head.

In addition to using metaphors, you can also use adjectives to describe the character’s emotions. Be careful not to overuse adjectives, as this can detract from the impact of your writing. Instead, choose a few powerful adjectives that will help your readers understand the depth of the character’s sadness.

For example, you might describe the sadness as overwhelming, suffocating, or unbearable.

When it comes to dialogue, it’s important to remember that people don’t always express their emotions directly. In fact, sometimes what isn’t said is just as important as what is said.

Consider using subtext to convey the character’s sadness indirectly. For example, a character might say “I’m fine,” when in reality they are struggling with intense sadness.

Another way to use dialogue to convey sadness is through the use of behaviors. For example, a character might withdraw from social situations, stop eating or sleeping properly, or engage in self-destructive behaviors as a result of their sadness.

By showing these behaviors, you can help your readers understand the depth of the character’s emotions.

Finally, when describing sadness, it’s important to consider the overall mood of the scene. Use sensory details to create a somber atmosphere that will help your readers connect with the emotions of your characters.

For example, you might describe the rain falling heavily outside, the silence of an empty room, or the dim lighting of a funeral home.

Overall, when writing about sadness, it’s important to choose your words carefully and use a variety of techniques to convey the depth of your character’s emotions.

By using metaphors, adjectives, dialogue, behaviors, and sensory details, you can create a powerful and emotionally resonant story that will stay with your readers long after they’ve finished reading.

Expert Views on Emotion

When it comes to writing about emotions, it’s important to have a deep understanding of how they work and how they can be conveyed effectively through writing. Here are some expert views on emotion that can help you write about sadness in a more effective and engaging way.

Dr. Paul Ekman

Dr. Paul Ekman is a renowned psychologist who has spent decades studying emotions and their expressions. According to Dr. Ekman, there are six basic emotions that are universally recognized across cultures: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust.

When it comes to writing about sadness, Dr. Ekman suggests focusing on the physical sensations that accompany the emotion.

For example, you might describe the heaviness in your chest, the lump in your throat, or the tears that well up in your eyes. By focusing on these physical sensations, you can help your readers connect with the emotion on a deeper level.

While sadness is often seen as a “negative” emotion, it’s important to remember that all emotions have their place in creative writing. Disgust, for example, can be a powerful tool for conveying a character’s revulsion or aversion to something.

When writing about disgust, it’s important to be specific about what is causing the emotion. For example, you might describe the smell of rotting garbage, the sight of maggots wriggling in a pile of food, or the texture of slimy, raw meat.

By being specific, you can help your readers feel the full force of the emotion and understand why your character is feeling it.

Overall, when it comes to writing about emotions, it’s important to be both specific and authentic. By drawing on your own experiences and using concrete details to describe the physical sensations and causes of emotions, you can create a more engaging and emotionally resonant piece of writing.

Unique Examples of Describing Sadness

When it comes to describing sadness in creative writing, there are many unique ways to convey this emotion to your readers. Here are some examples that can help you create a powerful and moving scene:

The crying scene : One of the most common ways to show sadness is through tears. However, instead of just saying “she cried,” try to describe the crying scene in detail. For instance, you could describe how her tears fell like raindrops on the floor, or how her sobs shook her body like a violent storm. This will help your readers visualize the scene and feel the character’s pain.
The socks : Another way to show sadness is through symbolism. For example, you could describe how the character is wearing mismatched socks, which represents how her life is falling apart and nothing seems to fit together anymore. This can be a subtle yet effective way to convey sadness without being too obvious.
John : If your character is named John, you can use his name to create a sense of melancholy. For example, you could describe how the raindrops fell on John’s shoulders, weighing him down like the burdens of his life. This can be a creative way to convey sadness while also adding depth to your character.

Remember, when describing sadness in creative writing, it’s important to be specific and use vivid language. This will help your readers connect with your character on a deeper level and feel their pain.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are some effective ways to describe a person’s sadness without using the word ‘sad’.

When describing sadness, it’s important to avoid using the word “sad” as it can come across as cliché and lackluster. Instead, try using more descriptive words that evoke a sense of sadness in the reader. For example, you could use words like “heartbroken,” “bereft,” “devastated,” “despondent,” or “forlorn.” These words help to create a more vivid and emotional description of sadness that readers can connect with.

How can you describe the physical manifestations of sadness on a person’s face?

When describing the physical manifestations of sadness on a person’s face, it’s important to pay attention to the small details. For example, you could describe the way their eyes become red and swollen from crying, or how their mouth trembles as they try to hold back tears. You could also describe the way their shoulders slump or how they withdraw into themselves. By focusing on these small but telling details, you can create a more realistic and relatable portrayal of sadness.

What are some examples of using metaphor and simile to convey sadness in creative writing?

Metaphors and similes can be powerful tools for conveying sadness in creative writing. For example, you could compare a person’s sadness to a heavy weight that they’re carrying on their shoulders, or to a storm cloud that follows them wherever they go. You could also use metaphors and similes to describe the way sadness feels, such as a “gnawing ache” in the pit of their stomach or a “cold, empty void” inside their chest.

How can you effectively convey the emotional weight of sadness through dialogue?

When writing dialogue for a character who is experiencing sadness, it’s important to focus on the emotions and feelings that they’re experiencing. Use short, simple sentences to convey the character’s sadness, and avoid using overly complex language or metaphors. You could also use pauses and silences to create a sense of emotional weight and tension in the scene.

What are some techniques for describing a character’s inner sadness in a way that is relatable to the reader?

One effective technique for describing a character’s inner sadness is to focus on their thoughts and feelings. Use introspection to delve into the character’s emotions and describe how they’re feeling in a way that is relatable to the reader. You could also use flashbacks or memories to show why the character is feeling sad, and how it’s affecting their current actions and decisions.

How can you use sensory language to create a vivid portrayal of sadness in a poem or story?

Sensory language is an effective way to create a vivid portrayal of sadness in a poem or story. Use descriptive words that evoke the senses, such as the smell of rain on a sad day or the sound of a distant train whistle. You could also use sensory language to describe the physical sensations of sadness, such as the weight of a heavy heart or the taste of tears on the tongue. By using sensory language, you can create a more immersive and emotional reading experience for your audience.

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Jealousy And Writers: Tips To Beat The Green-Eyed Monster

by Writer's Relief Staff | The Writing Life | 15 comments

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In Natalie Merchant’s 1995 song “Jealousy,” a woman asks these questions about a rival for her lover’s affections: “Is she bright/so well read/are there novels/by her bed?”

The singer might have been even more jealous if those bedside novels were written by her rival. Jealousy and envy are common emotions for writers. When someone you know becomes a successful and well-published writer, envy can be inevitable. And when megacelebrities who never paid their writing dues get big book deals for novels and memoirs that they didn’t actually write, the envy can become…unenviable.

So how will you, as a creative writer, react when confronted with the green-eyed monster? You could become a jealous maniac (like one of the 10,000 Maniacs, the band Ms. Merchant fronted before going solo). But we at Writer’s Relief know you have to be realistic, so here are six practical tips for turning envy into empowerment.

How To Deal With Jealousy In The Writing Life

1. Use your jealousy as motivation. If a friend or member of your writing group gets a poem or short story accepted by a prestigious literary journal , cultivate an “I can do that too” attitude. If that person can get an acceptance letter, you can too!

2. Congratulate the person on her or his publishing accomplishment. Being gracious is the right thing to do. It will make you feel better to know you reacted well. And staying on good terms with the worthy wordsmith might eventually pay dividends, which leads to our third point:

3. Rather than stewing in jealousy, ask a successful writer for help! Turn a negative experience into a positive one. Often, honest communication can help alleviate jealous thoughts.

4. That’s why it’s important to talk things out. Confide in a close friend or spouse. Don’t keep jealousy all bottled up. And also, when your kind friend reminds you of all the reasons you shouldn’t be jealous, be open to hearing—really hearing—the words.

5. Don’t be afraid of jealousy. If being uncomfortable with jealousy makes you avoid writing groups and writers conferences , you’re not doing yourself any favors. Push through jealousy. Accept it, then either find a way to use it as a motivator OR let it go.

6. Take appropriate action when celebrities get lucrative book deals. If you’re jealous of notables such as politicians, musicians, and actors reaching publishing nirvana (often with ghostwriting or cowriting help) while you struggle, vote for their opponents, avoid their overpriced concerts, and ignore their TV shows and films. They’ll be devastated.

Well, okay, maybe not…but you’ll feel better, anyway!

Finally, don’t forget that when Natalie Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs for a successful solo career, the remaining group members eschewed envy, plugged along, and eventually recorded a top-40 hit (with new lead singer Mary Ramsey). Jealousy can be a negative influence—or just another stepping-stone on the path to better things. Ultimately, it’s up to you!

15 Comments

This reminds me of what legendary writer Pete Hamill told me in a 1978 interview, “You emulate, you imitate, you equal, and you surpass.”

This article hits very close to home. My friend Rod Moore is coming into town next week. Rod and I spent a year together in a fiction writing master’s program at U.C. Davis way back in 1975; Rod was the most lionized student in the program, because he’d started publishing even as an undergraduate, and had an impressive, ornate, Jamesian writing style. The next year, I got into Columbia’s writing program, so headed to NYC and earned my MFA two years later, while Rod stayed at Davis and finished his MFA there. Now, about 35 years later, Rod has managed to continue writing fiction, quite successfully, winning the prestigious Iowa short story collection annual award a few years ago and now just coming off a stint at the fabulous MacDowell writers colony. Meanwhile, I published one piece of fiction in 1978, and none since. I write fiction infrequently and desultorily now, in fact read it infrequently as well, though the desire to write short stories and novels still beats deep within me — life with all its problems, financial difficulties, family, tennis, crosswords, and other kinds of writing (I’m a medical editor and sometimes magazine freelancer) have taken over. So, it’s a wee bit difficult to see Rod’s success in the field where I wanted success. However, Rod has earned it–he’s continued to plug away, and has reaped the rewards. He’s not rich because of it, he has to make his living as a teacher, but he has continued to write fiction, while I have not. It’s my own damn fault. So Rod, my hat’s off to you, man, for your due diligence and confidence and talent. Continued success, my friend. And after all, I ain’t dead yet — if I want to write fiction, all I have to do is write it.And hopefully I will. Hopefully Rod has set an example for me that I can one day follow. Hopefully sooner than later, because I ain’t gettin’ any younger. Rod, see you soon, buddy.

Great piece — fearlessly deals with a troublesome emotion. “Don’t be afraid of jealousy!” Amen! My further thought on the matter, something that helps me deal with both jealousy and disappointment, is that “success” in the form of publication, prizes, etc. is only the tip of the iceberg. Developing as a writer and truth-teller is a lifelong process and you will run the emotional gamut as you pursue it. The deeper issues are craftsmanship and the hidden truths of being alive. Success ebbs and flows, and comes to everyone who sticks with something — AND is always temporary. But deep feelings between and among writers based on a common search for personal and universal truths is not capricious. When you connect with other writers at that level, their success is your success, and vice versa.

I can’t help responding to this even though I’m supposed to be writing….Back in 1976 I was an English lit major at Worcester State College. One day my poetry professor announced that one of his best friends not only had a couple of book deals, but had a movie deal as well. The book? Salem’s Lot! Now there’s a reason to be jealous. Though — in that very book one can find the secret to the author’s success. One of the tenants at the hotel where the protagonist is staying complains about the typewriter noise. “He starts at 9 am and goes until noon. Then he starts again at 3 pm and goes until 6. Then he begins at 9 until midnight.”(I’m paraphrasing of course) Even writing every day, how many of us can claim to work that hard?

Alyne, thank you for sharing this story with us! And you do make a very good point. Talent and vision are so important, but many writers get sidetracked and don’t devote the kind of butt-in-chair time that success requires.

I recently had a friend get published. At first I was jealous; then I started helping him sell books. It shouldn’t be all about getting published; it is just as important to see your friends succeed.

Great article. I’d also like to add to try not to think of everyone as being a direct competitor. You only compete against yourself. Other people’s successes spur me on to try harder, and then there are times when I have to admit I will never be Toni Morrison. But it’s a big world and there’s room for all of us.

Perfectly explained Suzette. I feel the same. There is a place for every writer somewhere in this world. We all make a mark only that the depth of the mark makes us popular and not so popular.

I’ve often found my jealousy to be misplaced, whether related to someone’s job, life situation, or perceived success (i.e. thinking someone makes sooooo much money when they really don’t, or blowing a supposed big break out of proportion). It is so easy to sulk because my friends are living in great cities and getting fabulous jobs two years out of school – but the superficial details never tell the whole story. And when I worry about those issues I am simply projecting my own insecurities onto other people and taking my focus away from my own issues.

Easy enough to say now. We’ll see what happens when I go to grad school.

I find when I get jealous at other writers’ successes I write myself. So I that is a kind of motivation to get off my rear.

Great article! The irony…I found it when I googled “dealing with envy” after reading of a bloggers (whom I hardly know!) newfound success with a book deal! I won’t go on and on with excuses about my lack of time (while a stay at home mom with two small children)…some people wouldn’t “get it” anyway…I need to use what I have, where I am to do the best I can…some great comments!

Lisa, we’re glad you found us and enjoyed our article. Thanks for commenting!

Wow! I’m just finding this but I’m so glad I did! I haven’t found myself directly envious of anyone yet, but my mind keeps poking me with that “what if” moment. What if a family member succeeds where I have yet to? Or a writer-friend? Sometimes it’s so intense that I refuse to speak about my writing, except to say that, yes I am a writer. I’ve been working on handling this though. Not, getting rid of the envy. It pushes me to put “butt in chair.” 🙂 So, I kinda like it – to an extent. 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing …

I smiled when I read the headline of this article, because it reminded me of a PBS show (“American Masters”) that I’d just seen on Harper Lee — whose friendship with Truman Capote cooled when her novel (To Kill A Mockingbird) won the Pulitzer Prize, and his book (In Cold Blood) didn’t. The irony, of course, was that he called on her to help him with it.

In light of that situation, I’d question tip #1 — because neither of them finished another book. So jealousy may not be such a great motivator after all.

Then again, your example is not the best one, since the ex-Maniacs recruited a lead singer who sounded much like her departed predecessor. While that factor enables them to make a living, in pure commercial terms, Natalie Merchant’s name will always be the bigger draw.

A better example of tip #1 is the Clash’s ex-guitarist, Mick Jones, who put his own groundbreaking outfit (Big Audio Dynamite) together right after they kicked him out in 1983. Mick enjoyed a high degree of success through the ’80s and early ’90s — while his ex-partner, Joe Strummer, spent much of that time struggling to find his creative footing again.

OK, enough rock ‘n’ roll history lessons — one other comment I’d make is that beating the green-eyed monster is often far easier said than done…all too often, folks seem willing to trample their grandmother in a heartbeat when those big prizes (status, money, fame, etc.) seem within reach.

I speak from experience: back in college, I wrote for several fanzines, including one started by a guy who decided to found his own “proper” literary magazine (as in, glossy paper vs. photocopy). However, when I — and some others who’d written for the former rag — checked out the possibility of being involved with the new publication, we were blown off, rebuffed, and treated in a pretty unpleasant manner. My blowback got more intense, because I called the guy out (and got a fairly nasty letter back).

The overall impression left was one of being “traded in” for a new circle of local heroes that (presumably) would be used to burnish the guy’s reputation (as well as his new project).

In some respects, this is neither here or there, because the new project ran out of steam after one or two issues (I think), and the guy moved on to other things. I didn’t talk to him at length again (other than a couple of quick encounters in public spaces).

So, I enjoyed reading your article, but I do think we need to qualify a few things — I don’t think anybody really begrudges the Stephen Kings of the world, because he’d have been discovered somewhere along the line.

If people get riled up, it’s more likely to happen in low-rent situations like the one I’ve described — or, as a friend of mine reminded me recently, “entering contests where the favored local writer always seemed to win.”

So it’s not realistic (per tip #2) to expect folks to say “congrats” in every instance: relationships often get soured or trampled in the “chase” for the prizes, making it difficult for the parties to get past that point again.

You live and learn, and chalk all it up to experience — that’s why Dave Mustaine, of Megadeth, has gone on record admitting that he shouldn’t have burned so much energy on trying to scale the same mega-heights as Metallica, after they booted him out early in their career.

If there’s a moral here, it might well be: stand on your own, if you can…and let the chase take care of itself.

I am a writer with steady writing success, and can’t seem to escape the jealousy, no matter what group I join, or writer I hang out with. My whole opinion of writing jealous is that it comes from feeling the need to support your ego and prove something to other people. I knew diagnosed narcissists who couldn’t stop being jealous of other people’s success. I am a firm believer that people who focus on striving for excellence, and willing to get writing education, shouldn’t get jealous. I know writers who are jealous of other writers, yet barely seenlm comfortable with getting critique, and don’t have a history of having writing education. I also think when other writers get jealous, it is because they are too focused on competition, rather than personal growth. I have got pushed out of groups (even those I paid to be in) simply because of excellence in my work, and success. If you mention your writing success then you are arrogant, if you repeatedly share excellent work, then you are showing off…etc. Once you become a great writer that’s achieved, it’s like you got to watch you back, and go into hiding, and never speak of it. I keep to myself now, and don’t bother joining writing forums or critique groups anymore, nor expect to have any real writing friends.

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How to write Jealousy into your Romance Novel

Jealousy, an inherent part of the human psyche, is something everyone relates to, which is why it’s a common theme in romance novels. You can use it to establish your characters’ desires and show how important those desires are to the characters. Jealousy generates conflict and gives depth to the people in your book. It can define who those people are by how they react to the emotion. Incorporating jealousy also evokes reader sympathy and empathy because everyone knows what it’s like to feel jealous. It’s not a fun feeling, and readers relate to characters through the unsavory emotion.

Examples of Jealousy in Romance

There are many types of jealousy that are generated by different scenarios. For example, you could have romantic jealousy or possessive jealousy, professional jealousy between coworkers or familial jealousy between siblings. You could even have extreme jealousy, when one character goes to extremes to resolve their feelings.

Romantic Jealousy

Edward and Jacob both exhibit their romantic jealousy in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga as they butt heads over loving the same girl, Bella. This creates conflict and gives the readers insight into the depth of their love.

Possessive Jealousy

In The Mortal Instruments series, by Cassandra Clare, Simon’s jealousy of Jace is somewhat similar in this regard, though Jace is less concerned over Clary’s friendship with Simon. And as the story unfolds, Simon’s jealousy transforms more into the category of a possessive jealousy. While he has feelings for Clary, his jealousy stems from his fear of losing her as a friend, both to Jace, who she has a crush on, but also to the world of shadowhunters.

Evolving Jealousy

The Hating Game , written by Sally Thorne, illicites a more professional undertone to jealousy as Lucy and Joshua struggle to earn the same promotion. Her fresh take on a workplace romance generates jealousy between the two love interests before they discover that their conflict may be based in sexual tension just as much as it is in jealousy.

Familial Jealousy

Of course, everyone is familiar with familial and friendly competition. This generates jealousy between siblings or two best friends and challenges the characters to rise above their baser emotions to protect their love for each other. East of Eden , by John Steinbeck, is a perfect example of two half-brothers, Adam and Charles, who regard each other as competition as they both vie for the same girl’s affections.

Rivals can stem from jealousy as well. Take Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . In this timeless classic, the queen, and stepmother, grows jealous of Snow White’s beauty and how all around her love the younger girl. Their conflict escalates as the queen instructs a hunter to take Snow White to the woods and kill her to remove the girl as a rival for people’s love.

Extreme Jealousy

Then there’s extreme jealousy. In Nicholas Sparks’s Safe Haven , Erin’s abusive husband, Kevin, hunts her down and tries to kill her and her new love interest, Alex, when he finds her and sees she’s moved on. This jealousy borders on psychotic as he chooses to kill the one he loves rather than let her leave him.

How do you write it into your own novel?

Each of these forms of jealousy drives the plot forward and adds depth to the characters. But how do you develop your own character’s jealousy?

Analyze character motives

Start by analyzing what fuels their jealousy: fear, insecurity, rejection, confusion, distrust, shame, paranoia, envy. These underlying emotions give motive to your characters and strengthen their personalities. Jealousy just for jealousy’s sake can quickly be resolved, but what about jealousy that stems from the fear of not being good enough? Jealousy formed because the lover doesn’t trust their love interest after being cheated on will be more engaging than jealousy with no reason behind it.

Paint a jealous picture

Implementing physical manifestations of jealousy goes a long way in developing your character. Motions such as scowling, clenched fists or teeth, verbal outbursts, physical altercations, or assault demonstrate an anger brought on by jealousy. On the other hand, stoic silence, depression, tears, a red face, tight lips, or an increased heart rate indicate emotional turmoil. That could mean sadness or nerves. Jealousy can reveal itself in many different ways, and knowing the kind of body language your character would use to express it helps your readers identify the emotion without you having to state it outright.

Consider what how jealousy makes the character act.

Now consider how your character might handle their jealousy. Are they the kind of person who will make up lies, avoid the person they’re jealous of, confront them, insult them? They might self-destruct, manipulate others to gain sympathy, pout, or become reckless. Depending on your character’s personality, they might be more prone to reacting one way or another. And when you understand who your character is, you will know better how they should react to the situation.

Is jealousy inherent to your character's personality?

Another question to ask yourself in developing jealousy is how integral this emotion is to your character’s personality. Can they grow from it? Resolve it? Is it justified? Just because they react to jealousy one way at the start of the book, doesn’t mean their character can’t progress to a different type of behavior in the end. Think about whether they are conscious of their own emotions at the start of the book. What about by your book’s resolution?

Make jealousy complex

But why stop at the simpler, more common forms of jealousy? Try combining different types of jealousy to make your characters more intricate. After all, two characters who develop a professional jealousy become much more interesting when one of those characters takes it to the next level and kidnaps their coworker, turning the corner into extreme jealousy.

Jealousy is an effective tool in the author's arsenal. While you should be cautious of using it simply to create an action scene, when utilized properly, jealousy can engage readers and make the characters more human and relatable. It increases conflict , which appeals to audiences, and everyone loves a good rivalry.

Don't know if you can master writing jealousy into your romance novel? HotGhostWriters can help! We have a full staff of trained ghostwriters ready to assist you in building a complex and engaging jealous character. Visit us at hotghostwriters.com , and book our services today. Amanda Kruse

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How to Effectively “Tell” Emotions in Fiction

This post originally, drawn from material in my Emotional Mastery course , ran on Larry Brooks’s blog in the summer. Reprinted here for your edification!

Many amateur writers ineffectively tell or name what a character’s emotions are. That’s often because they haven’t learned masterful ways to get the emotion across.

Telling an emotion doesn’t make readers feel or experience the emotion. It often creates more problems: the writing gets burdened with lists of emotions, and in the writer’s attempt to push harder in the hope of conveying emotion, she overdoes it. Adding to that, she might throw in all those body sensations for good measure, cramming the prose with so much “emotion” that the only thing readers feel is irritation.

Yet, there may be times when telling emotion is masterfully done. You can find plenty of excellent novels in which characters name the emotions they’re feeling.

It Has to Be in Character

Think about your character. Yours might be the type to name her emotions. With a young character, for example, it’s wholly believable for her to think in simple labels, rather than in nuance and complexity of emotion. What she is feeling might be complex, and the reader would pick that up, but what she herself believes, how she interprets what she is feeling, might be told plainly as it is understood plainly.

If it’s in character for your character to think like that, then, by all means, do so.

What kind of character would name her emotion?

One that has enough self-awareness to be able to identify what she is feeling. Or at least try to identify. Or want to identify her emotion.

Not everyone is like that. A teen girl is more apt to ponder her emotions than a middle-aged highly educated male computer programmer.

See, don’t default to assumptions and stereotypes. It’s all about personality. Maybe your computer geek is deeply in touch with what he calls his female side. Or maybe, conversely, he’s quick to jump to conclusions, and that includes defining his and others’ emotions by labeling without much thought.

Let’s take a look at the award-winning women’s fiction novel Words by Ginny Yttrup. Yttrup’s character, Sierra, understands her emotions. She is self-aware and notices when she is feeling something. This fits her character, who is an artist who’s been through much grief and loss (I’ll put in boldface where she identifies her emotion).

By the time I leave Ruby’s, it’s almost eleven, and the sun is high overhead. I unzip the canvas top from my Jeep, and Van and I take off with the wind in our hair—or fur. I head out Mt. Hermon Road toward Hwy 17 with the intent of returning home to work for the remainder of the day. But as I tick off the miles toward home, something nags at me—a distinct feeling that I’m going the wrong way.

The closer I get to home, the more agitated I become. By the time Hwy 17 turns into Ocean Street, my agitation has turned to anger . I pull off the street and into an empty parking lot.

“What? What do You want from me?”

Van cocks an ear and then sinks down in the passenger seat.

I reach over and pat his neck, “Sorry, boy, I’m not yelling at you.” I sigh, “I just . . . I just don’t know what to do.”

I rest my head on the steering wheel and try to figure out what to do. Should I go back and try to find the little girl again? No. That’s ridiculous. This has nothing to do with me . . .

What if it were Annie?

The question pricks my conscience and then stabs my heart.

“But it’s not Annie!” I scream. “She’s gone. She’s”—the word catches in my throat and I feel hot tears brimming—”dead.” I wipe away my tears with my fist and then bang my fist on the steering wheel.

“She’s dead and this has nothing to do with her or with me!” With that, I put the Jeep back in gear and pull back onto Ocean Street. Within minutes, I’m in my driveway and out of the Jeep.

I hold the driver’s side door open for Van. “Come on, get out.”

Van doesn’t move.

“Van, come on!” He still doesn’t move. I reach behind the front seat for Van’s leash and attach it to his collar.

“Van Gogh, come!” I speak the command in my firmest tone and tug on the leash. He resists and remains in the passenger seat.

I throw down my end of the leash and walk around the car and open the passenger door. “Van,” I say through clenched teeth, “get out now.”

Van jumps from his seat to the ground, runs around the front of the Jeep with his leash dragging behind him, and jumps back in the driver’s side door. He maneuvers over the gearshift and sits back in the passenger seat.

“Fine. Stay there!” I slam the passenger door and head for the bungalow. Again I feel hot tears slide down my cheeks. This time I don’t even bother wiping them away. I reach the front door, turn the knob, and remember my house key is in my backpack, which, of course, is still in the car.

I turn back toward the car and see through a blur of tears that Van is still holding his vigil in the front seat.

“And she thinks you’re ‘progress’? You’re just a pain in the neck!”

As I again reach behind the front seat, this time for my backpack, Van leans in and begins licking the tears from my face. “Stop it.” I push him away. But he moves closer, this time resting his wet muzzle on my shoulder.

It’s too much.

Twelve years’ worth of pain rumbles to the surface. There’s no stopping it. Like a train roaring through a tunnel, the sobs come with a force I can’t stop—great heaving sobs. I hold Van tight and soak his fur. I don’t care what I look like standing in my driveway, clinging to the dog in my car. I don’t care about anything except this pain I’ve held for so long.

And can hold no longer.

I don’t know how long I stand there—minutes? Hours? Finally the sobs wane. I climb into the passenger seat with Van and pull a few crumpled napkins from the glove compartment. I blow my nose and lean into Van again, resting my head on him and closing my eyes. Spent . Exhausted. But oddly at peace .

The question comes again: What if it were Annie?

I think of my daughter so long gone from me. I think of the dreams I had for us. I wonder, as I have a thousand times before, what she’d look like now if she were still alive. And then I remember the fear I saw in the eyes of the child in the clearing.

Yes . What if it was Annie and no one came to help her?

I get out of the Jeep and walk back to the driver’s side and get in.

“Okay, you win. We’re going back.” I’m not sure if I’m speaking to God or Van—they’re seemingly working together. But Van’s tail wags in response.

As I turn the key in the ignition, I realize I’m taking my first step of faith in over a dozen years. I’m not in control here.

And I’m scared to death .

In this powerful scene, we see that wonderful combination of showing emotion, telling emotion, and thoughts that reveal emotion (the three ways to convey emotion in characters).

Don’t Try to Name the Complex Emotions

Instead, it’s her thoughts of Annie, of her loss, that show readers what causes the emotions she then indicates via body language. Thoughts lead to emotions, in both our characters and in our readers.

Use Anger to Good Advantage

Anger is an easy emotion to grab when we don’t want to face painful emotions: loss, pain, shame, guilt, grief, or hurt. But anger usually masks something else.

To many people, hurt sparks anger so it looks like anger. But anger is the result, not the root.

A character might tell the emotion she is feeling—anger—but the reader knows it’s not really anger she’s feeling. Her body sensations and behavior may say “anger,” because anger is on the surface and moving her.

This is why complex emotions are best revealed by thoughts. If readers know the source of the emotions, the why , then they can empathize with the situation, and what they feel, by placing themselves in that situation, will be those complex emotions that you do not name.

It Has to Be in POV

If we keep in mind that the narrative— all the narrative —in a scene is the POV character’s thoughts, it will be clearer to us when to tell emotion.

When would your character think to name an emotion? When she is aware of her feelings, right? In the kind of moment when the character would stop and consider how she’s feeling. And only if it fits the character.

For example, when a writer tells the reader via author intrusion that his character is jealous, it’s one step removed. It’s out of POV.

Jason stood at the corner and saw his girl flirting with Bill Jones in front of the bank. He was jealous because he really didn’t know if Rose’s affections were genuine or if she was just toying with him and he couldn’t bear the thought that she might like that jerk more than him.

We sense immediately that this is the author speaking to the reader. Jason isn’t thinking “I’m jealous because I really don’t know if Rose’s affections toward me are genuine.” Right?

One great way to check to see if your narrative is authentic when writing in third person is to switch it to first. So, here, first off, ask: Is Jason the type of guy to stop and explore his feelings—while he’s standing on a corner reacting to this unexpected scenario?

Not likely, even if he’s set up to be a touchy-feely kind of guy. Not even if he’s a therapist. Not in that moment when he is reacting . Maybe later when he’s processing he’ll admit to himself that he was jealous. And he might name the emotion. It could be in dialogue, for instance:

“What’s bugging you, bro?” Steve asked him.

“I saw Rose talking to that creep Jones,” Jason said.

Steve eyed him, and a smirk rose on his face. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“Sure I’m jealous. She just agreed to go to Vegas with me. You’d be jealous too, if Cindy was making eyes at a loser like Jones.”

In that kind of situation, it’s believable that Jason is going to name his emotion. And it would work as internal dialogue or narrative too:

Jason stormed off down the street and into the nearby coffee shop. He blew out a breath, feeling like he was about to blow a fuse. Admit it—you’re jealous. You just can’t trust her. And that’s your problem. It’s always been your problem.

Which is basically the same as

Jason stormed off down the street and into the nearby coffee shop. He blew out a breath, feeling like he was about to blow a fuse. He was jealous. No denying it. He thought he was past that, had gotten a handle on the jealousy after Denise dumped him. But here it was, like some ugly monster from the Black Lagoon slithering up his neck, whispering poisonous words into his ear.

That’s a bit melodramatic, but I hope you get the point. It’s all about how your character would think.

When you tell emotions in fiction in a masterful way, it can be effective, believable, and powerful.

Want to learn how to become a masterful wielder of emotion in your fiction? Enroll in my new online video course, Emotional Mastery for Fiction Writers .

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Powerful post! Some writers stray from telling to overly showing emotions without finding the balance for the POV character.

Thanks, DiAnn. It was an interesting issue to ponder and research. I realized that we all name our emotions all the time (but it doesn’t mean we’re right, though!). But since everything is about POV, it must fit both the character and the moment to make it believable.

Thanks for the article. The “switch it to first” check is something I will try. The examples help also.

Question: showing/telling emotion seems to require a ‘tightness’ of the POV that makes it hard to include other information (clothing, setting) that the character wouldn’t be thinking about (for example, in their own home).

How do you balance those two things?

Hi John, that is a terrific question and an issue I often talk about. How important is it to know a character’s hair and eye color? How important is it to desribe, via POV, the items in a character’s room? It’s not. While we want to be sure to use sensory details to describe setting, we want every bit of information to help our story, to add mystery and tension, reveal bits about character to help us like/hate/empathize with that character. I have a lot of posts on masterful description of character and setting, so be sure to read those, as they have great examples of passages from novels by excellent writers who are masters at this.

As far as a character describing (thinking about) himself, it should be done in a way to reveal the character’s mind-set. Instead of having him think about how tall he is, if his height MATTERS in the story, you might have him wonder why no one ever cleans the top of their fridge (my husband, being 6’7″ just didn’t realize for most of his life that the “average” person couldn’t see the top of a fridge) and make a remark in conversation, with someone replying, “well, you would notice that!” In other words, any description about self (character) has to help the story and not just be a useless laundry list. A girl can hate her mousy, stringy hair and be trying to do something with it. That reveals description of her hair, but it serves a purpose.

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How to Stop Being Jealous of Writers Who Succeed

by Laurie Pawlik
February 8, 2020

How do you deal with feelings of jealousy when you meet successful writers, hear about a fellow writer’s book publishing contract, or learn that yet another author won a writing prize, short story contest, or even a Pulitzer?

Learning how to deal with feeling jealous is part of everyday life. We seem wired to compare ourselves to other people. We measure ourselves according to their relationships, acquisitions, possessions, jobs, and talents.

The good news is that feelings of jealousy are normal — but they’re also learned thought patterns . This means that if you’ve learned how to be jealous of writers who succeed, then you can unlearn it. And, more good news is that learning how to stop being jealous of successful writers is easier than you think!

One surefire tip for dealing with jealousy is to get deeper into your own writing. Use the exercises in books such as One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer’s Art and Craft by Susan M. Tiberghien to develop your own distinct writing voice and style. This is the best tip on how to become a successful writer – especially if you tend to be jealous of writers and published authors. Perhaps you haven’t figured out who you are as a writer.

Anne Lamott describes her jealousy of one writer in particular in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life – I think that’s where she said her thoughts and feelings were so bad, they’d make Jesus drink gin out of the cat dish! Actually, it may have been Traveling Mercies that she talked about her writerly jealousy. If you haven’t read Lamott’s books on writing and life, get thee to a library or Amazon.com! It’s good stuff.

Here’s how I deal with jealousy of other writers: I stop writing. I let my feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and uncertainty overwhelm me, and I surf Youtube for “how to get my book published” videos. That makes me feel even more inadequate and insecure because I’m a new author, so then I eat. Lots. Blech.

Those are not good or healthy ways to stop being jealous of writers who succeed. In fact, those habits will make be small, tight, constricted and trapped in insecurity, fear, and scarcity. These tips are far better…

6 Ways to Deal With Jealousy

It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to other people – especially successful writers, published authors, financially stable bloggers, or busy freelancers! This trap will ensnare and prevent you from becoming who you are as a writer.

And that’s the first tip on how to stop being jealous of writers who succeed: know who you are.

1. Grow into yourself as a writer

My “She Blossoms” blogs, books and magazine articles are all very practical and tip-oriented. I always shy away from sharing personal information or telling stories because I never felt like I was interesting enough to just be me. But, getting my MSW degree has given me a new depth of confidence and security in myself. And – more importantly – my relationship with God has grown mightily in the past year! I have learned to accept and even rejoice in my personality, experiences, strengths, and weaknesses. I like myself better because I’ve learned to see myself and my writing through God’s eyes. I might even say I love myself, despite my flaws and failures and finicky fitzgibblits.

2. Admit that you’re jealous of other writers

It’s normal to compare yourself to other writers, and to feel not good enough. “Women artists feel shame for having the envy, seeing it either as an indication of low self-worth or confirmation that they’re not talented enough,” writes psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo in Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within . “Women seem to be in competition with other women; men seem to be in competition with some high-achievement self-ideal, instilled I n them in childhood, before which they always fall short.”

3. Write through your feelings of jealousy

Accept that you feel jealous of other writers and published authors. Tell yourself that jealousy is normal — but it doesn’t have to be who you are. You don’t have to let your jealousy hobble or stop you from writing. Pen on Fire author Barbara DeMarco-Barrett said she stopped writing for a year after she published her first short story, because she was so busy comparing herself to other writers. Do you compare yourself, and always come up short? There will always be writers better than you, and writers worse than you. The key to dealing with writer jealousy is to stop comparing yourself to other writers.

4. Ask yourself what you envy about other writers

She Blossoms Tips How to Stop Being Jealous of Writers Who Succeed

I envy Emma Donoghue’s ability to make characters come alive, especially in Frog Music: A Novel . That was SUCH an awesome book – have you read it? Protagonist Blanche is so lovable and gross, connectable and confusing. She’s human. Emma Donoghue brought her alive, and I am jealous of her writing ability. Actually, I’m not really jealous of it. I don’t want to write novels. I admire Donoghue’s ability to make characters so interesting and complex, and to make me care about what happens to them. She also wrote Room , which I adored.

Knowing who you are and what you were created to do will help you stop being jealous of successful writers.

5. Write a personal manifesto

Whether you call it a mission statement, statement of purpose, or manifesto doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have a source of confidence that burns through your jealously of other writers. This is mine, which I read every morning in my God time: “Dear Laurie, People are blessed by your existence . You don’t need a gimmick – you are a gift! Tap into the joy, creativity, and passion of your offering, and don’t worry about what happens after you send out your newsletter or hit Publish on the blog post. Be who you were created to be. Nobody sees what you see, how you see it, what it means to you, or why. It is enough to share your experience – YOU ARE ENOUGH. You are amazing! Trust that God will reach out to people through you. Be a bridge, a conduit.”

Curious what makes some authors more successful than others? Read 6 Essential Personality Traits That Make Writers Succeed .

6. Keep reminding yourself of your purpose for writing

If you get emotionally and physically healthy, if regularly “check in” with your heart, spirit, and soul – whether or not you believe in God – you will align yourself with your purpose in life. Ideally, if you’re a writer, your life purpose will involve writing! But if you let jealousy of other writers eat away at your confidence, security, and motivation, then you’ll lose sight of what you were put here on earth to do.

One last tip for dealing with jealousy is to find your writers’ voice . Let your personality, experiences, and memories flow through your writing. Don’t copy other writers or bloggers. Just be you.

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6 thoughts on “How to Stop Being Jealous of Writers Who Succeed”

Maybe if i learn how to outline get this huge world and characters organized I’ll finish this book and stop getting jelly? I’ve never been jealous of another writer before and it’s really uncomfortable. Ugg, go away!

I’m jealous of another writer because she had the time to not only finish the book she was working on and win last years watty award. In the past I was happy for her but today when the award picture slapped me in the face as her profile header I just swallowed quite a bit of envy there. I went to her profile to ask her to give a quick look over my newly revised book, but I think I’ll wait awhile until this uncomfortable jealous goes away! (mine never stays long I won’t let it.)

This past year has been awful for finding time to write. I was always so happy with finding what time I could to write and could just blast out chapters, but this year omg. Babysitting, sick for three weeks and a bout of being lazy and playing a phone app game. Gah!

I really love my current wip so no idea why I can’t seem to go back to it.

Thanks for your thoughts, Peggy – I like your idea of playing around with different styles as we work to find out own strengths and talents.

I’m not prone to writerly jealousy, but I do let myself get intimidated by other bloggers and writers. That paralyzes me, leading to self-doubt and inaction! I’d rather be jealous and moving forward than insecure and paralyzed.

In peace and passion, Laurie

Love this article! One of my dirty little secrets is my jealousy of other writers. I think one way I deal with it is to get into discussions about what it is that I admire in another writer’s ability or path to success and then work toward improving those aspects of my own skills and career. I don’t obsess over it or try to copy another writer’s path to success, but it doesn’t hurt to play around with different styles as we work to find out own strengths and talents.

Thank you so much, Karen, I really appreciate your kind words! It’s great to hear from you — and not just because of the lovely things you said. It’s so nice to know that I’m not alone, that there are people “out there” in cyberspace who are motivated and energized by my existence 🙂

Stay in touch, Laurie

Laurie, I’m a writer who’s followed you for several years. I always find you helpful and inspiring, and look forward to your next post. And now I’m jealous of your MSW because it gives you credibility to write about all kinds of fascinating psychological topics with authority. Plus, you’re an experienced blogger! Thanks for everything and keep up the good work.

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Home > creativity

Slaying The Green-Eyed Monster

Do you go through your work day with a little green monster on your shoulder? You know the one—it’s constantly whispering in your ear about how much you want the accomplishments, accolades, and recognition of others in your field. It’s the creature that kills you whenever someone publishes a book, goes on TV, or seems to be more successful than you. It’s envy, and you’re not the only one who’s susceptible to its deceptive charms.

The dictionary definition of envy is “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck” or the “desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to someone else.” It’s that resentful longing that can eat away at your self-esteem, turn you into an embittered curmudgeon, or simply erode your creative life…one little moment at a time.

You might think that given the dangers of envy, it’s something you must shield yourself against at all costs. But since envy operates in the realm of fantasy—your fabulous imaginings of how great another person’s life or career must feel—it doesn’t quite work that way. In fact, crushing your own natural feelings of envy can crush your competitive spirit and fuel self-criticism in a way that’s unhealthy, too.

Luckily, there are ways to use envy as a positive force. Envy is like the canary in the coal mine, the little harbinger that tells you something’s wrong. It can help you tune into your deepest desires, even the ones that seem too transgressive, petty, or dangerous to acknowledge. The trick, though, is not letting your professional jealousy carry you away.

The next time you hear envy whispering in your ear, stop. Don’t talk, don’t act, don’t do anything but listen. What does your envy say about your misgivings, your shortcomings, your fears? Tell envy you’ll give it your ear—for a finite time only. Then, cut it off in its tracks by vowing to set aside those feelings for a minute, an hour, or a day…and refocus on yourself, better attuned to what you really need and how you really feel.

It takes practice, but putting the kibosh on professional envy is good for the soul and the career. Just don’t get carried away with your uncharitable feelings. That little green monster is okay for a while…until it becomes you.

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Erin Blakemore is a library school drop-out, historian, freelance writer, and author of the award-winning The Heroine’s Bookshelf (Harper). She dishes about books, history, and channeling your inner heroine at www.erinblakemore.com

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Posted September 9, 2020 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

Understanding Jealousy
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My sense of isolation intensified even further when my own envy erupted. Over the years in therapy , I confronted the enormous storm that envy has created in my life.

In fact, envy and its sibling greed have been the most forbidden emotions I’ve battled with throughout my life but much more so since I entered graduate school. There, my demands for excellence and insecurities regarding my own gifts compared with those of my fellow students intensified.

In these lethal comparisons, I came up wanting—the talents of my peers always outdistancing mine. The result was that stab in my chest then the slow burn at the pit of my stomach when I heard a poem or a success that I wished was mine. Envy certainly did not fit with my attempts to be a good and generous human being. It diminished me as a person and intense shame accompanied it. I hated the self-involvement and shallowness implied by it and realized that without discovering the feelings and experiences that give rise to it, envy would continue to darken my view and rob me of the pleasure that comes from making art.

Psychologically, envy begins in childhood and, for the most part, stems from sibling rivalry—the belief that siblings threaten our place in our parents’ hearts. If my mother and father have other children to love, they will love me less. The healthiest of us had parents who were sensitive to that vulnerability and reassured us that we were loved for ourselves, for our uniqueness. We did not have to duplicate our brother’s or sister’s talents to warrant love. But that is often not the case.

For us Cusack kids, in addition to three siblings, a far more formidable threat was posed by the sinless perfect child held up to us as the ideal of what our parents and God wanted. We knew we could never measure up. That sense of inadequacy and threat naturally spread into other areas of our lives—particularly ones that mattered most, like our art. And one plagued by envy is likely not to trust and value his or her own work.

Envy implies a hunger, an emptiness. And hunger requires feeding. As children, we look to our parents to tend to our needs for food and shelter, love, and self-worth . As adults, we transfer this reliance to ourselves. So too with the gifts of art. If we only rely on others to feed us and do not learn to feed ourselves, we will starve and our art will starve. The world can never feed us enough to make up for the lack of our own care. And the first step toward that self-feeding involves identifying our gift.

What is it that distinguishes my work from another’s? What can I love about what I do? For me, it was my intensive study of voice and learning to embrace my own, that introduced me to my gift, and it was that discovery that finally muted envy for me. (Not totally—these feelings seldom disappear completely—but significantly enough for me to feel its absence.) The relief was palpable, profound. But that didn’t happen until years after I finished graduate school. Until then, I burned with envy and the shame that accompanied it. It threatened to paralyze me. I became physically sick and depressed ; I couldn’t write.

Next: Creative Writing & the Psyche: The Threat of Making Art V: A Mentor

Joan Cusack Handler, Ph.D., is a poet, memoirist, and psychologist. Her widely published poems have won five Pushcart nominations.

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Ways To Describe A Voice: Similies & Adjectives You Can Use

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In the symphony of human interaction, voices play an essential role. When a character speaks in a story, their voice is more than just words. It’s a melody of personality, history, and emotion. It hints at their past, their dreams, and their secrets.

As writers, it’s our responsibility to capture the nuances of these voices. But how do we effectively convey the subtleties of a voice in writing, especially its tone? Let’s dive in and explore the art of describing voices, focusing on the tone of voice in written narratives.

How Do You Describe Tone of Voice in Writing?

Understanding Tone: At its core, tone of voice conveys an emotion or attitude. It’s the difference between saying, “I can’t believe you did that!” in anger, amazement, or joy. As a writer, it’s crucial to determine the emotional state or attitude of a character when they speak.
Use Descriptive Adjectives: The quickest way to convey tone is through adjectives. Words like ‘shrill’, ‘melodious’, ‘gruff’, or ‘whispery’ immediately give the reader a sense of the voice’s quality. Think of how the voice feels in the ear – is it rough like sandpaper, or smooth like velvet?
Rely on Context: Often, the situation or setting can help convey the tone. A dialogue set at a funeral will likely have a different tone than one at a birthday party. Moreover, a character’s past experiences, relationships, and current emotions can all inform their tone of voice.
Use Action and Body Language: Sometimes, what a character does while speaking can highlight their tone. A character who’s pacing and wringing their hands while talking likely has a different tone than someone lounging lazily in a hammock.
Dialogue Tags Are Your Friends: Instead of the plain ‘said’, try tags like ‘whispered’, ‘shouted’, ‘murmured’, or ‘hissed’. But use them judiciously – overdoing it can feel forced.
Internal Monologue and Reflection: By diving into a character’s thoughts, you can often clarify the tone. For example: She said, “It’s lovely.” But in her mind, it was anything but lovely.

Feedback from Other Characters: How other characters react to what someone says can provide additional insight. If one character makes a statement and another wince, the reader gets a cue about the tone. Practice Listening: As a writer, becoming an active listener in real life can help. Pay attention to people’s tones in different situations. How do they vary? What emotions do they convey? This real-world insight can enrich your writing immensely.

Capturing the tone of voice in writing is both an art and a science. While the above tips provide a framework, the real magic happens when you combine them with your unique voice and observations. With practice and keen attention, you can master the art of conveying the melodies and nuances of spoken words on paper.

How to Describe Voice in Writing Using Adjectives and Similes

When we read a well-written narrative, the voices of the characters should be almost audible in our minds. This auditory illusion is crafted skillfully using language. Two potent tools in a writer’s arsenal for this task are adjectives and similes. Here’s how you can use them to describe voices in writing:

Using Adjectives

Texture and quality:.

Raspy: A voice that has a rough, grating quality.
Silken: A smooth and soft voice, often pleasant to hear.
Melodious: A voice that has a musical or tuneful quality.
Husky: A slightly rough sound, often considered attractive or intimate.
Nasal: A voice that resonates through the nose.

Volume and Pitch:

Shrill: A voice that is high-pitched, sometimes unpleasantly so.
Sonorous: A voice that is deep, loud, and resonant.
Sibilant: Hissing sounds, especially on the “s” sound.
Whispery: Soft and hushed, like someone is whispering.

Emotion and Intent:

Cheerful: A voice that sounds happy and light.
Sombre: Serious, grave, and filled with gravity.
Wistful: Full of longing or unfulfilled desire.
Sardonic: Disdainfully or skeptically humorous.

Using Simile

Similes compare two unlike things using ‘like’ or ‘as’, making the description vivid and relatable.

Her voice was raspy, like leaves scraping against each other.
His voice was as smooth as aged whiskey.
Her shrill voice pierced the air like a siren.
His words boomed, as deep and resonant as a church bell.
Her voice held a cheerfulness like sunlit meadows in spring.
His voice was sombre as if echoing through a long, empty corridor.

Tips for Effective Description:

Less is More: Don’t overdo it. One well-placed adjective or simile can be more effective than a flurry of descriptors.
Avoid Clichés: While it’s okay to use familiar similes, strive for unique comparisons that will surprise and delight your reader.
Ensure Context Matches: Ensure the situation or emotion in your story matches the description. A ‘silken’ voice might not fit in a stressful confrontation, just as a ‘raspy’ voice might feel out of place in a romantic serenade.
Mix and Match: Don’t stick to only adjectives or only similes. Combining them can give depth and layers to your voice descriptions.

Expert Tip: Describing a voice effectively can transport your reader into the heart of the scene, making characters and their interactions come alive. With the strategic use of adjectives and similes, your narratives can sing with the authentic sound of genuine voices.

Analyzing a Voice in Literature

Voice in literature refers to the distinct style, tone, and character that’s present in an author’s writing or the unique attributes given to a narrative persona. Analyzing it is akin to recognizing the unique cadence, pitch, and timbre of a person’s spoken voice. Here’s a guide to analyzing voice in literature:

Identify the Speaker: Is the voice that of the author? Or is it a character’s? Or perhaps an omniscient narrator;’? Understanding the source is the first step.
Determine the Tone: Is the voice serious, humorous, sarcastic, melancholic, joyful, or introspective? Tone can offer clues about the writer’s attitude toward their subject or audience.
Understand the Diction: Examine the choice of words. Are they formal, colloquial, archaic, jargon-filled, or poetic? This can give insight into the education, background, or mindset of the voice.
Assess the Structure and Syntax: Are the sentences short and choppy or long and flowing? The pacing and rhythm can reveal a lot about the voice’s mood and intent.
Examine the Perspective: Is it written in first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective? This can influence how intimate or detached the voice feels.
Look for Recurring Themes or Motifs: These can provide insights into the core concerns, obsessions, or values of the voice.
Consider the Overall Purpose: What is the voice trying to achieve? Inform, persuade, entertain, or perhaps confront?

Example of a Strong Voice in Writing

One of the most distinctive voices in literature belongs to Mark Twain , particularly in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Twain’s voice, channeled through the young Huck, is colloquial, witty, and observant. Here’s an excerpt:

“You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter. That book was written by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There were things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.”

In this short passage, you can immediately sense Huck’s candid, youthful perspective. The language is informal and direct, and there’s a humorous undertone in his admission that Twain “stretched” the truth. It showcases Huck’s voice as authentic, skeptical, and refreshingly honest.

Analyzing voice requires keen observation and an understanding of various literary elements. A strong voice, like Twain’s, remains memorable and provides the narrative with authenticity, color, and depth.

How do you describe a voice in a poem?

Describing a voice in a poem is a delicate task, weaving emotion and imagery into the fabric of the narrative. Because poems often work within a limited scope, each word carries weight. Here’s how you can describe a voice in a poem:

Sensory Imagery: Use sensory details that evoke auditory images. Think of sounds in nature, like rustling leaves for a soft voice or booming thunder for a strong voice. Example: “Her voice, a whispering breeze, grazed my ears.”
Emotion and Mood: Express the emotion that the voice carries or instills in the listener. This can reflect sadness, joy, anger, or any other emotion. Example: “His voice, a mournful lullaby, sang tales of forgotten yesterdays.”
Metaphors and Similes: Compare the voice to something relatable, giving readers a vivid image or sensation. Example: “Her voice was like molten chocolate, smooth and rich.”
Texture and Tone: Use adjectives that express the texture (rough, smooth, raspy) or the tone (warm, cold, distant) of the voice. Example: “The gritty gravel of his voice echoed pain from years past.”
Rhythm and Musicality: Consider the rhythm or musical quality of the voice. Is it staccato, melodic, monotone, or rhythmic? Example: “In rhythmic cadence, her voice danced, a melody of hope in the dark.”
Volume and Pitch: Describe whether the voice is loud, soft, shrill, deep, etc. Example: “In hushed tones, lower than the evening’s shadow, he confessed his dreams.”
Personification: Grant the voice human-like characteristics or behaviors to enhance its essence. Example: “The voice, weary and aged, tiptoed through the corridors of memory.”
Physical Reaction: Describe the impact of the voice on the listener or the environment. Example: “With every word, her voice painted the room in shades of golden joy.”

Expert Tip: Incorporate these techniques based on the mood and theme of your poem. The ultimate goal is to evoke a strong auditory image in the reader’s mind, allowing them to “hear” the voice as they navigate the verses of your poem.

Literary Description of a Voice

In literature, the voice can refer to two main concepts:

Authorial Voice: This is the distinct style or manner in which an author expresses themselves in writing. It’s a combination of the author’s tone, mood, diction, syntax, and overall writing style. It’s what makes one writer’s work distinguishable from another’s.
Narrative Voice: This pertains to the persona, tone, and style used by a writer to convey a story. It’s the perspective from which the events are told, which might be a character within the story (first-person) or an external, omniscient narrator, among other possibilities.

Descriptors of Vocal Quality

When describing the actual sound of a voice in literary works, writers use various descriptors to convey vocal quality. Here are some of the most common ones:

Texture/Timbre:

● Raspy: Rough or scratchy, like sandpaper. ● Smooth: Without any noticeable bumps or interruptions; pleasing to hear. ● Husky: Deep and slightly rough, often in an attractive way. ● Crisp: Clear and concise, easy to understand.

● Hushed: Soft and quiet. ● Booming: Very loud and resonating. ● Piercing: High-pitched and sharp, almost painful to hear. ● Muted: Softened or subdued.

● High-pitched: More towards the treble end of the scale. ● Low-pitched: More towards the bass end of the scale. ● Shrill: Unpleasantly high and sharp. ● Sonorous: Deep, resonant, and often impressive.

Emotional Quality:

● Cheerful: Reflecting happiness or positivity. ● Melancholic: Sad or sorrowful. ● Animated: Lively and spirited. ● Monotonous: Lacking in variety, flat, without inflection.

● Clear: Easily understood, distinct. ● Muffled: Difficult to hear clearly. ● Slurred: Words run together, often due to intoxication or tiredness. ● Articulate: Spoken clearly with distinct syllables.

Rhythm and Pace:

● Staccato: Short and detached; abrupt. ● Legato: Smooth and connected; flowing. ● Rapid: Fast-paced. ● Languid: Slow and relaxed.

Nasal: Resonating in the nose.
Throaty: Deep and resonant, coming from the throat.
Breathy: With a lot of audible breath.
Resonant: Having a deep, full, reverberating sound.

Using these descriptors can help paint a vivid auditory image for the reader, adding depth to characters and enhancing the overall atmosphere of a scene.

How does the narrative voice influence the reader’s perception of a story?

The narrative voice is akin to a guide that walks a reader through the landscape of a story. It has the power to shape a reader’s understanding and engagement with the narrative.

A strong, relatable voice can make readers feel emotionally connected as if they’re experiencing events firsthand, while a detached or unfamiliar voice might provide an objective or even alien perspective.

For instance, an intimate first-person narrative voice can immerse readers into the character’s personal experiences, feelings, and inner conflicts, fostering a deeper emotional bond.

On the other hand, an omniscient third-person voice can offer a broader perspective, allowing the reader to understand the larger scope of events and the interplay of multiple characters’ motivations and actions.

Why is the authorial voice significant in distinguishing one writer from another?

The authorial voice is a writer’s unique fingerprint in the realm of literature. Just as no two people speak or express themselves in the exact same manner, no two writers have the same authorial voice. This voice comprises their choice of words (diction), sentence structures, rhythms, tones, and themes they often gravitate toward.

For instance, Ernest Hemingway’s minimalist, straightforward prose is easily distinguishable from the ornate, intricate sentences of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Readers often find themselves drawn to certain authors because of this unique voice, associating it with specific emotional experiences, insights, or narrative styles they enjoy.

How can a writer develop their unique authorial voice?

Developing an authorial voice is a journey of self-discovery, continuous learning, and immense practice. It begins with extensive reading. By exposing oneself to a plethora of styles, genres, and voices, a writer can discern what resonates with them. Writing regularly, experimenting with different styles, and seeking feedback are also crucial.

Over time, patterns will emerge, reflecting the writer’s preferences, beliefs, and idiosyncrasies. Personal experiences, values, and cultural background also play a role in shaping this voice. It’s essential to understand that this voice isn’t static; it evolves as the writer grows, both in skill and as an individual.

In what ways can a mismatched tone or voice detract from the narrative?

A mismatched tone of voice can create a jarring experience for the reader. Imagine a dark, tragic event described with a cheerful or humorous voice it would seem out of place and could diminish the gravity of the situation. Similarly, using a casual, colloquial voice in a historical epic might feel anachronistic and disrupt the immersion.

Quick Fact: When the voice or tone doesn’t align with the content or the setting, readers might struggle to connect emotionally or intellectually with the story, leading to a sense of detachment or even confusion.

How does the use of diction influence the perception of vocal clarity in literature?

Diction, or word choice, is pivotal in conveying vocal clarity. Using precise, evocative words can paint a vivid picture of a voice’s sound and emotion. For instance, describing a voice as “whispered” rather than just “soft” gives a clearer auditory image.

Similarly, words like “articulate” or “slurred” not only describe the sound but also give insights into the speaker’s state of mind or physical condition. A well-chosen word can provide layers of meaning, allowing the reader to hear the voice in their mind and understand the nuances behind its modulation.

Why might an author choose to use a variety of vocal descriptors across different characters in a story?

Variety in vocal descriptors aids in character differentiation and development. Each character is a unique entity with its own background, experiences, and emotions. By giving each character a distinctive voice, authors add depth to their personalities, making them more relatable and real to the readers.

For example, a wise old character might have a “sonorous, slow-paced” voice, reflecting age and gravitas, while an energetic young character might have a “crisp, rapid” voice, reflecting youth and vivacity.

These variations not only enhance the auditory landscape of the narrative but also provide subtle cues about characters’ personalities, histories, and current emotional states.

How do rhythm and pace in vocal descriptors mirror or contrast a scene’s atmosphere?

Rhythm and pace in vocal descriptors can be used strategically to amplify or counterpoint a scene’s mood. In an intense, fast-paced scene, a character’s “staccato” voice might echo the urgency of the situation. Conversely, in a calm, reflective scene, a “languid” voice could emphasize the relaxed nature of the moment.

However, authors can also use contrast to striking effect. For instance, amidst the chaos, a character speaking with a “smooth, rhythmic” voice might stand out, highlighting their control or detachment from the surrounding turmoil. Through such alignment or juxtaposition, the voice becomes an instrumental tool in setting or subverting the atmosphere of a scene.

What is the potential impact of using sensory imagery in depicting a voice in literature?

Utilizing sensory imagery when depicting a voice is akin to painting a vibrant scene with words . By allowing readers to “hear” the voice in their minds, the narrative becomes richer and more immersive. Descriptions such as “a voice as cold as a winter breeze” or “a laugh reminiscent of tinkling glass” evoke specific auditory and sensory reactions.

As humans, we’re innately wired to respond to sensory stimuli; therefore, the use of such imagery makes characters and situations more relatable, grounding fantastical or unfamiliar narratives in sensory experiences readers can understand and empathize with.

How can emotion and mood in a voice guide the reader’s feelings about a particular scene or character?

Voices, as described in literature, often act as windows into characters’ souls. A “melancholic lilt” or a “cheerful hum” not only informs about the current state of the character but also nudges readers towards feeling a certain way. When we read about a voice “quivering with suppressed rage,” we can sense the tension, perhaps evoking fear or anticipation.

Conversely, a voice described as “warm as a comforting hug” can evoke feelings of safety and affection. In essence, by depicting the emotion and mood in a character’s voice, authors guide readers’ emotions, ensuring they’re aligned with the intended atmosphere of the scene.

Why is the use of metaphors and similes especially potent in describing voices?

Metaphors and similes draw parallels between the unfamiliar and the familiar. By comparing a voice to something relatable, like “molten chocolate” or “a rushing stream,” the reader can instantly grasp its quality, even if they’ve never “heard” that particular voice.

This association bridges the gap between the textual description and the reader’s imagination, providing them with a tangible anchor. Furthermore, such comparisons often carry additional connotations; “molten chocolate” doesn’t just suggest smoothness, but also warmth, richness, and maybe even a hint of indulgence or sensuality.

How do descriptors of rhythm and pace influence the perceived personality or mindset of a character?

Rhythm and pace in vocal descriptions can reveal much about a character’s state of mind or even their personality. A character with a “rapid, staccato voice” might be perceived as anxious, impatient, or excited. In contrast, one with a “languid, flowing voice” might come across as relaxed, confident, or contemplative.

Over time, these vocal rhythms can be associated with consistent character traits, allowing readers to make quick judgments or anticipate reactions. For instance, a methodical character might always speak at a measured pace, and any deviation from this could signify a significant emotional upheaval for them.

How can personification add depth to the description of a voice?

Personifying a voice giving it human-like characteristics or behaviors can add layers of meaning to a narrative. Describing a voice as “tired” or “elusive” personifies it, suggesting not just sound quality but also emotion or intent. A voice that “tiptoes” might imply secrecy or caution; one that “roars” suggests not just loudness but also power and possibly anger.

By personifying a voice, authors grant it agency, turning it into an active participant in the narrative rather than just a passive descriptor.

What is the relationship between vocal clarity descriptors and character backstory or development?

Descriptors of vocal clarity, such as “muffled,” “articulate,” or “slurred,” can offer subtle hints about a character’s history or current state. A character who consistently speaks in muffled tones might have a history of repression or a reason to hide their feelings. On the other hand, an articulate voice might indicate education or a background that values clear communication.

Similarly, a sudden slurred speech could hint at intoxication, illness, or fatigue. By paying attention to these vocal nuances, astute readers can glean insights into characters’ backgrounds, motivations, or upcoming arcs.

How does resonance play a role in setting the atmosphere of a scene or reflecting character dynamics?

Resonance in vocal description isn’t just about the sound; it’s also about the impact. A voice with a deep resonance might fill a room, demanding attention and possibly indicating authority or gravitas.

A nasal resonance could be comedic, annoying, or indicative of a cold. Furthermore, the interplay of resonances between characters can reflect dynamics a scene where one voice drowns out another in resonance could signify dominance or suppression.

Resonance, in essence, adds another layer of auditory texture, helping set the scene’s tone and highlighting inter-character relationships.

The art of describing voice in literature is intricate, requiring a balance of precision and creativity. Beyond mere auditory representation, it serves as a portal into characters’ souls, reflecting their emotions, histories, and relationships.

As readers, we often underestimate the power of these vocal descriptions, but they’re instrumental in shaping our engagement with the narrative. A well-described voice doesn’t just echo in our ears but resonates in our hearts, making stories come alive in our minds.

About Ben Hudd

Hi, my name is Ben, and I am part of the writing crew for TheWritersHQ! I have a roaring passion for books and writing, and have written 2 books throughout my life! I am now excited to share my writing and book knowledge with the world!

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How to Describe Voices in Writing (300+ Words & Examples)

Describing voices accurately in writing can transform your story or screenplay, giving your characters depth and making them feel real to your readers.

Here is how to describe voices in writing:

Describe a voice in writing by identifying elements like tone, pace, timbre, volume, and accent. Use adjectives for depth or speed. Consider the voice’s emotional state, age, and physical circumstance. Create a better reading experience by differentiating the voices in your story.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about how to describe voices in writing.

How To Describe Voices in Writing (The Elements You Need To Know)

Artistic digital art of a group of story characters and a red cat - How to Describe Voices in Writing

Table of Contents

To portray voices effectively in writing, it’s crucial to grasp the various elements that constitute a voice.

Let’s delve into some of these vital components:

The tone of a voice reveals the emotional undercurrents beneath the words spoken

It’s not just what the character says, but how they say it that provides context and clues to their emotional state.

Tone can encompass a wide range of emotions, from sarcasm and anger to affection and impatience.

For instance, a character’s voice can drip with venom in their anger, quaver in their anxiety, or soften in their affection.

Example: “ His tone dripped with scorn as he responded to her, his words carrying an edge sharper than a sword. “

Example: “ Her voice softened, the gentle lilt carrying a tender affection that warmed the room. “

The pace or speed of a character’s speech can reveal much about their personality, mood, and state of mind.

A character speaking at a fast pace might indicate excitement, anxiety, or impatience.

In contrast, a slow-speaking character might come across as more contemplative, calm, or possibly confused.

Example: “ His words tumbled out in a fast-paced torrent, echoing the racing thoughts within his mind. “

Example: “ She spoke slowly, her measured pace reflecting the weight of her words. “

Timbre is the unique quality or texture of a voice that differentiates it from others.

It adds color and depth, making a voice sound velvety, gravelly, husky, or raspy. Timbre can convey a voice’s warmth or harshness, and sometimes, it can even provide a physical feeling to the listener.

Example: “ His voice had a gravelly timbre, reminiscent of rocks grinding together. “

Example: “ Her voice was velvety, a soft timbre that felt like a warm blanket on a cold night. “

The volume at which a character speaks can provide insight into their emotional state, intentions, or personality traits.

A loud voice can indicate excitement, anger, or an attempt to dominate, while a soft voice might suggest shyness, secrecy, or gentleness.

Example: “ Her voice was a barely audible whisper, as if sharing a precious secret. “

Example: “ His voice thundered across the room, demanding attention from all. “

How To Describe Specific Types of Voices in Writing

In this section, we’ll cover how to describe many different types of voices in writing.

Sometimes you want to describe the voice of a man or woman or child. Other times, you might want to describe a deep, high-pitched, or melodious voice.

Keep reading to find out how (with examples).

How to Describe Male Voices in Writing

Male voices, typically lower in pitch, can be described with a variety of adjectives, such as deep, gravelly, husky, or rough.

Physical reactions can also enhance the description.

Example: “ His voice, like a bass drum, resonated in her chest, leaving her with a strange fluttering sensation. “

Example: “ The velvety texture of his voice was soothing, lulling her into a state of tranquillity. “

How to Describe Female Voices in Writing

Female voices often have a higher pitch and can be portrayed as soft, melodic, shrill, or husky. By integrating the character’s emotional state, you can add nuance to the voice description.

Example: “ Her voice was like a flute, high and melodious, filling the room with a lively cheer. “

Example: “ Her husky voice carried a distinct warmth, wrapping around him like a comforting embrace. “

How to Describe a Deep Voice in Writing

A deep voice can portray a range of characters and moods, from authoritative figures to comforting allies or menacing villains.

Deep voices can be described as resonant, rumbling, or sonorous.

Example: “ His deep voice rolled over her like a wave, carrying an authority that demanded respect. “

Example: “ His voice was a low rumble, like distant thunder, carrying an underlying threat. “

How to Describe a Fast Voice in Writing

A fast voice can suggest a range of emotions and personalities, from anxiety and excitement to impatience.

Descriptions can include words like rushed, hurried, or jabbering.

Example: “ His words were a rapid-fire barrage, revealing his barely controlled excitement. “

Example: “ She jabbered quickly, her words bouncing around the room in her nervousness. “

How to Describe a Loud Voice in Writing

A loud voice can portray dominance, excitement, or panic. It can be described as booming, deafening, or blaring.

Example: “ His booming voice echoed in the room, a loud proclamation of his dominance. “

Example: “ Her voice was a deafening roar, mirroring the chaos and panic she felt within. “

How to Describe a Soft Voice in Writing

A soft voice can indicate a variety of moods, including gentleness, fear, or mystery.

Descriptions can include words like hushed, whispering, or murmuring.

Example: “ His voice was a soft murmur, a soothing balm over her frayed nerves. “

Example: “ Her whispering voice held a note of mystery, a secret waiting to be unveiled. “

How to Describe a Singing Voice in Writing

A singing voice can encapsulate a range of emotions, from sheer joy to profound sorrow.

Descriptions can include words like harmonious, melodious, lilting, or crooning.

Example: “ His voice, a melodious baritone, wove a rich tapestry of sound, filling the air with a soulful melody. “

Example: “ Her lilting voice danced through the air, each note a joyous celebration of life. “

How to Describe a Crying Voice in Writing

A crying voice, often deeply emotional, can be portrayed as choked, sobbing, wailing, or whimpering.

Example: “ His voice came out in choked sobs, the pain apparent in each word. “

Example: “ Her whimpering voice was heart-rending, each cry echoing her despair. “

How to Describe a High-Pitched Voice in Writing

A high-pitched voice can contribute to various character portrayals, from bubbly and enthusiastic personalities to those filled with fear or anxiety.

This voice type can suggest youth, as younger individuals often have higher-pitched voices, or perhaps someone who is excited or scared.

Descriptions might include words like squeaky, shrill, or piercing.

Example: “ Her voice was a shrill siren, each word piercing the air like a needle. “

Example: “ His voice, high and squeaky, was filled with unabashed enthusiasm, like a child on Christmas morning. “

How to Describe a Nasal Voice in Writing

A nasal voice, where the sound seems to resonate from the nose rather than the mouth or throat, can be an interesting trait for a character.

This can be used to emphasize a character’s comical, annoying, or unique personality.

Descriptions might include words like twangy, whiny, or braying.

Example: “ His voice had a nasal twang, each word sounding like it was squeezed out of a tight space. “

Example: “ Her voice was a nasal whine, a sound that grated on their nerves. “

How to Describe a Raspy Voice in Writing

A raspy voice, rough and hoarse, can suggest a character’s age, health, or emotional state.

This type of voice can denote an old or weary individual, someone who’s been shouting or crying, or perhaps someone who’s ill.

It can be described as hoarse, gravelly, or scratchy.

Example: “ His voice was a gravelly rasp, a testament to the many years he’d weathered. “

Example: “ Her voice emerged as a hoarse whisper, the aftermath of hours spent in tearful conversation. “

How to Describe an Emotionless Voice in Writing

An emotionless or monotone voice can reveal a lot about a character’s mindset or state of being.

This can denote someone who’s indifferent, in shock, or emotionally withdrawn. It could also be a character who’s pragmatic or analytical in nature. Descriptions can include words like flat, lifeless, or monotonous.

Example: “ His voice was flat, void of any emotion that might betray his thoughts. “

Example: “ Her voice held a monotonous drone, a dull sound that mirrored her detached demeanor. “

How to Describe a Whispering Voice in Writing

A whispering voice is soft and hushed, often used when a character wants to convey a secret or speak without being overheard.

It can also be indicative of fear, romance, or intimacy.

Words to describe a whispering voice might include hushed, muted, or breathy.

Example: “ His voice was a hushed whisper in the dark, a gentle brush against her ear that sent shivers down her spine. “

Example: “ Her whispering voice was barely audible, carrying an air of secrecy that tingled his curiosity. “

How to Describe a Melodious Voice in Writing

A melodious voice often has a musical quality, whether the character is singing or speaking.

It’s the type of voice that’s pleasant to hear, often used to describe a character who is charming or soothing.

Descriptions might include words like musical, harmonious, or lyrical.

Example: “ Her voice was harmonious, each word a distinct note that composed a beautiful symphony. “

Example: “ His voice was a lyrical song, the soothing melody washing over her like a gentle tide. “

How to Describe a Bellowing Voice in Writing

A bellowing voice is loud and resonant, often used when a character is yelling or expressing strong emotions like anger or excitement.

It can also convey a sense of authority or power.

Words to describe a bellowing voice might include booming, roaring, or thunderous.

Example: “ His voice bellowed across the battlefield, a roaring command that rallied the troops. “

Example: “ Her voice boomed through the lecture hall, an authoritative echo that demanded attention. “

How to Describe a Child’s Voice in Writing

A child’s voice is typically high-pitched and clear, often reflecting innocence, excitement, or curiosity.

Depending on the child’s age, their voice might have a lisping or stammering quality.

Descriptions might include words like squeaky, clear, lisping, or stammering.

Example: “ His voice, high and clear, was filled with the infectious excitement that only a child could muster. “

Example: “ Her voice was a soft squeak, a lisping sound that underscored her tender years. “

How to Describe an Elderly Voice in Writing

An elderly voice can reflect the wisdom and experiences of a lifetime.

Depending on the character’s health and vitality, their voice might be strong and clear or frail and quavering. Descriptions might include words like quavering, frail, shaky, or wise.

Example: “ His voice was shaky, a fragile echo of the robust sound it once was. “

Example: “ Her voice held a wise and steady tone, the weight of years echoing in each word. “

How to Describe a Smooth Voice in Writing

A smooth voice often conveys a sense of calm, elegance, or seductiveness.

It can suggest a character who is self-assured, sophisticated, or soothing.

Descriptions might include words like velvety, silky, or soothing.

Example: “ His voice was velvety smooth, each word a gentle caress that soothed her worries. “

Example: “ Her silky voice flowed through the room, like a comforting balm over their tired souls. “

How to Describe a Strained Voice in Writing

A strained voice is often used when a character is under emotional or physical distress.

It can suggest pain, anxiety, or exertion. Descriptions might include words like tight, tense, or choked.

Example: “ His voice was tense, the strain betraying his efforts to maintain composure. “

Example: “ Her voice came out in a choked whisper, each word a battle against the tears welling up in her eyes. “

How to Describe a Crackling Voice in Writing

A crackling voice often indicates age, nervousness, or emotional instability.

This can be used to describe a character going through puberty, an elderly character, or a character in a highly emotional state.

Descriptions might include words like breaking, unsteady, or wavering.

Example: “ His voice was breaking, each word wavering as if treading on unstable ground. “

Example: “ Her voice crackled like dry leaves underfoot, the years etched into every syllable. “

How to Describe a Stern Voice in Writing

A stern voice usually conveys authority, seriousness, or disapproval.

This voice type could be used to describe a parent, a boss, or anyone in a position of power.

Descriptions might include words like harsh, firm, or forbidding.

Example: “ His voice was harsh, a stern command that left no room for argument. “

Example: “ Her firm voice echoed her resolve, a testament to her unyielding stance. “

How to Describe a Gentle Voice in Writing

A gentle voice often suggests kindness, warmth, or care.

It’s typically associated with characters who are compassionate, patient, or soothing. Descriptions might include words like soft, warm, or tender.

Example: “ His voice was soft, each word a gentle caress that calmed her restless heart. “

Example: “ Her voice held a tender warmth, a soothing melody that eased their worries. “

Descriptive Words for Voices in Writing

The table below includes 30 types of voices and a collection of unique descriptive words for each type.

I hope it provides a handy reference for writers seeking to add depth and nuance to their character portrayals.

Before you go, here is a good video about how to describe a person’s voice (with audio examples):

Final Thoughts: How to Describe Voices in Writing

By learning to utilize a wide variety of voice descriptions in your writing, you can create a captivating soundscape that enriches your narrative and breathes life into your characters.

Your words can help your readers not only see your characters but also hear them, deepening their engagement with your story.

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Essays About Jealousy: Top 11 Examples and Writing Prompts

Jealousy is an undesirable yet persistent feeling throughout our lives; if you want to write essays about jealousy, read the essay examples and writing prompts featured in our guide.

It is only human to envy what others have from time to time: their money, house, and relationships. However, there is only so far you can go until jealousy becomes toxic and detrimental to your well-being. We must control our jealousy, stop thinking of others’ fortune, and focus on ourselves.

Despite its negative effects, jealousy is an intrinsic feeling in humanity, inspiring writers, artists, and directors throughout the centuries. This feeling is at the core of some of the most fantastic literature of all time: William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Othello , William Golding’s Lord of the Flies , and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby .

You can start by reading these examples to write insightful essays about jealousy.

1. Jealousy Is a Wasted Emotion by Joshua Fields Millburn

2. listen to what your jealousy is telling you by vivian nunez, 3. jealousy, envy are reflections of insecurity by john stathas, 4. lenten reflection -how envy hurts us by james sano.

5. Why I Refuse to Be Jealous of My Partners’ Exes by Nancy Einhart

Writing Prompts on Essays about Jealousy

1. what is jealousy , 2. what causes jealousy, 3. how jealousy can affect your mental health, 4. how can you control your jealousy, 5. jealousy in literature and popular culture, 6. your experience with jealousy.

“The easiest way to turn jealousy off is to stop questioning other people’s intentions. We often get jealous because we think a person meant one thing by their actions, when they meant something totally different. And the truth is that you’ll never know someone’s real intent, so it’s a waste of time to question it.

In his essay, Millburn writes about how to avoid jealousy and its adverse effects. It enforces standards in which we all try to be a certain way, free from individuality, and is terrible for people’s emotional health. But unlike most other emotions, we can “turn it off.” Millburn says we should stop being so critical of others’ intentions and give them the benefit of the doubt.

“But I’ve slowly made peace with the fact that my jealousy will always be a part of me. I’ve started finding solace in this envy. Lately, for example, I’ve been feeling jealous of those who have childhood homes they can go back to. I wish my boyfriend and I and our dog could go see my mom and have her fold us into her home while we figured out the next steps of our lives.”

Nunez takes a different approach to jealousy in this essay; rather than trying to purge it, she writes that we should let it guide us as with all other emotions. We are only human, after all. According to her, jealousy is a reflection of our most vulnerable side, and we should not try to purge it if we want to be healthy. Nunez gives examples from her childhood in which ignoring her jealousy affected her badly.

“If envy is your problem, examine what is that all about. What is missing in your life that causes you to envy something of another? What in you needs to be added or shored up? A healthy person does not allow envy to sully one’s soul.”

In a way echoing the statements of Nunez, Stathas discusses how jealousy reveals one’s fear, insecurity, and anxiety. However, he believes jealousy and envy can ruin your life if left unchecked. One possible solution is talking to the person inciting such jealousy and asking for reassurance; however, this is not for everyone, and it can be enough to focus on oneself merely.

“It is interesting that other sins promise at least some sort of short-term returns to us, but envy offers none. Envy can corrode our hearts, weaken our minds, and destroy our peace. It only brings sadness and anger, and we lose our orientation towards Christ, who died of self for love of others. Envy is the opposite of love, as true love is an unconditional willing of the good for another. ‘Love your neighbor, as yourself.’”

Sano writes his essay from a religious perspective, discussing jealousy in the context of the Bible and sin. Jealousy or envy is a toxic trait that makes us unhappy about others’ achievements and is considered a grave sin. Sano gives some examples of parables about envy and writes that if we learn to love others as we love ourselves, we can get rid of the envy in our hearts.

5. Why I Refuse to Be Jealous of My Partners’ Exes by Nancy Einhart

“When I see people consumed by jealousy about their partners’ pasts, I feel bad for them. Jealously doesn’t make your relationship more stable or build trust in your relationship; in fact, it can erode trust in a poisonous way. So resolve to fight your jealous instinct, because your life will be fuller without it, and you might even make a friend along the way.”

In her essay, Einhart details possible reasons for her to be jealous and why she actively rejects jealousy in her life. Rather than being jealous of her partner’s relationships with his exes, she is grateful that these people made her partner into who he is today. She also recalls her divorced parents’ friendship with each others’ exes or new partners, as well as her friendship with her ex-boyfriend’s wife. Jealousy is a waste of time and energy that could better be directed toward strengthening a relationship.

An excellent essay to write can talk about your thoughts on jealousy. First, define jealousy, then reflect on your experiences with this feeling and what it means to you- when have you been jealous before? How did it make you feel? You can also briefly touch on its causes and effects, but do not go too in-depth. Do not base your essay on the experiences of others; it should reflect your own experiences.

Essays about Jealousy: What causes jealousy?

From happy relationships to a new car to outstanding academic achievements- there are many possible causes of jealousy. Your essay can examine why people may be jealous and how they relate to one another. If you wish, give examples of instances in which others were jealous for reasons mentioned in your essay.

Most of the time, jealousy is destructive to one’s mental health. Research on the adverse effects of jealousy: in what ways can jealousy hinder you? Write about how jealousy can affect your well-being and give concrete examples. Be sure to cite credible sources, as this topic has been the subject of much research.

Since jealousy affects your mental health negatively, it is essential to be able to resist or at least control it. Your essay can advise readers on regulating jealousy or keeping it from consuming you. Read the essay examples above for different perspectives on jealousy and how to respond to it.

As stated previously, jealousy is a theme in many famous works of literature. Choose a novel, play, movie, or television program in which jealousy plays an important role. Explain how jealousy is present and how it impacts the plot and characters. Cite quotes from your chosen work for a more solid evidence base in your essay.

It is only human to feel jealous from time to time. Write about an experience where you were jealous of something or someone- do you regret it? Reflect on this experience, retell the story, and explain how you felt: what or who were you jealous of? Would you do anything differently now? Answer these questions for an engaging and inspiring essay.

Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays . If you’re still stuck, check out our available resource for essay writing topics .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Jealousy - creative writing.

It was a day with hot colours, when it felt that the old wet season was about to set in. In that calm atmosphere Dion was running on the beach nearly breathless, trying to flee from his troubles. The salt soaked air was filling his lungs. Under the music of the wind and the rhythms of his memories, his eyelids weighed heavily over his eyes and he felt the emptiness in his stomach.

Dion, exhausted, sat on the sand, which was till warmed by the last rays of the sun which was about to disappear behind the promontory. As Dion looked at the magnificent sunset, he got lost in his doubts and concerns. That cursed call had kidnapped his sleep the night before. Dion kept asking himself: “What does she want?” he thought.

Meanwhile Hannah was looking at the same sunset from the balcony of her room. She was padding her brain and her heart with the same question: “What do I want?” Hannah, a long time ago, had said to Dion that she no longer felt for him “the thrill of love along the back”. Completely sick and tired of him and their habits, she had easily been fascinated by the charm of another boy.

But just yesterday Hannah saw him with another girl. She had an enchanting face and her skin was like porcelain. Her long coarse hair was gathered together in a braid dropped on the right shoulder. Under the thick fringe were hidden two deep hazel eyes. She was wearing Levi jeans and a white shirt which matched with her trainers. Her name was Charleene and her appearance as a child smelt of innocence.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Hannah kept walking in their direction, driven by the desire of satisfying her suspicions. Her gaze remained focused on the couple. Her anger was increasing step by step. The sound of her spiked high heels ticked with the seconds of her watch. Obsessed, she had been alienated from any other thought. Her mind spun, jealousy tore at her whole being. She felt the pull in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes were almost paralysed as they closely followed the movements of the couple . Hannah kept trailing them with a purposeful stride until one of her heels got stuck in the cobble-stone of the trail. She knelt to release her heel and her dress flapped in the mischievous evening breeze. At the same time Dion turned back to kiss Charleene on the neck. He saw out the corner of his eye that dress, that hair: “It could not be anyone else but Han.” As he saw her, he brought Charleene around the next corner of the street not to let Hannah see them.

Hannah lost sight of the couple. In despair she lit a Malboro and she turned for home walking like a spy through the smoke. Through that fog, she saw her certainties getting smaller, fears as well as temptations. A bitter taste of defeat kidnapped her soul. She knew that this bitter taste could not be sweetened.

She could not keep her anger for herself. “I need to see him! I need to prove that I’m wrong! My feeling must be wrong… must be wrong…” she thought. Then she took the phone on the bedside table next to her. She could still remember Dion’s home number. She dialed the numbers with sweet hesitation.

After a few seconds he picked up the phone: “Hello.”

“Hey.”

“Han?”

“…” the insecurity stole sound from her words which became a mute sob.

“Is it Hannah there?”

“Yes it is Hannah! I need to see you, it is really important to me! Please… Pleeeease!” she said in one go.

“Oo…Ok. When?” Dion answered confused.

“As soon as you can!”

“Tomorrow after dinner, nine p.m at mine? Is that alright for you?”

“Yep, see ya tomorrow then,” she answered in a brisk way.

“Bye!”

She wrong footed him. But this very short and direct call actually left both of them in suspense about the next day.

Hannah looked at her watch: it was finally nearly the “X” time. She went downstairs nervously playing with the keys of her car. She quickly jumped in her car, previously parked close to her house

She arrived at quarter to nine at Dion’s. She waited for the right time and then she knocked on the front door. As Dion opened the door she walked in, burying him with a heavy avalanche of words full of jealousy: “Who was she? She looks like a child, how can you love her?!? You’ve promised that I would remain the ONLY one, irreplaceable to you, the only one you’ve loved and you will love, FOR-EVER!...”

Her syllables wriggled armed from the slide of her mouth. They hit him straight to the heart. To still the pain Dion ceased her torrent of sharp words, laying a kiss on her fleshy lips without saying a word. Hannah suddenly fell silent and she flopped on the couch. She took a deep breath and the wide neckline sweater slid along her, revealing the naked shoulder. Dion fondled her candid soft skin. Hannah shuddered.

They lived the night as if they were two souls in one breath, a single beat. But as a farewell of all the muscles reached them they fell asleep, closed in a hug. [This sentence is a bit awkward]

The next morning Hannah woke up first and stared at “the boy of the night before”. Her sweet memories of him had lost the colours a long time ago; they were in black and white now. They had been neglected by space and time. She had already stored their days in boxes that were not supposed to be opened again. The “whys” in her mind were driving her crazy.

Suddenly her doubtful thoughts were silenced. Dion tossed and turned in bed, rolling himself up in the warm linen. Still asleep he whispered: “Han… I love you”. As she heard those words, she felt a thrill along her back, but she realized that it was not “the thrill of love”. She fell in panic. Two bright drops glided along her cheeks, washing the rest of her make up off.

“What have I done?” she thought.

She had obtained what she wanted, but she felt no sense of carefree or ecstasy or love. She realized that her jealousy and her competitiveness played with Dion’s emotions. She felt ashamed. She got off the bed, cautiously trying not to wake up that angel. She vanished forever like her love for him a long time ago. They will not share a night together, never again.

Document Details

Word Count 1112
Page Count 3
Level AS and A Level
Subject English

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90 Journal Prompts for Jealousy to Help You Cope and Heal

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Table of Contents

A list of 90 good writing prompts for jealousy

We’re going to explore some journal prompts for jealousy that will help us understand jealousy better and, most importantly, help us grow as individuals.

You see, just like you, I believe that personal growth is super important. It’s all about getting to know ourselves better, becoming stronger and more confident, and finding true happiness.

And sometimes, those feelings of jealousy can actually teach us a lot about ourselves.

So, grab a pen and a journal, and get ready to discover some amazing things about yourself.

We’re going to take a journey together, and along the way, we’ll uncover why we feel jealous and how we can use those feelings to become even better versions of ourselves.

Without further ado, let’s move on to 90 good journal prompts for jealousy .

a pin that says in a large font journal prompts for jealousy

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30 retroactive jealousy journal prompts

Write about a memory from your own past that might make you feel jealous.
What are some healthy ways you can cope with and manage your feelings of jealousy?
What are some things that make you feel insecure or worried, which can lead to jealousy?
Describe a time when you were able to let go of jealousy. What did you do to feel better?
Imagine writing a letter to your partner’s ex, expressing how you feel, and seeking closure.
Are there any specific situations or things that make your jealousy worse? Write about them.
Think about a time when you felt jealous about your partner’s past. How did it make you feel?
Think about how trust plays a role in overcoming jealousy and building a strong relationship.
Make a list of your own qualities and strengths that have nothing to do with your partner’s past.
Think about times when your partner reassured you and made you feel less jealous. How did it help?
How has jealousy affected your current relationship? Write about any problems or arguments it caused.
Imagine a future where jealousy doesn’t bother you. How would that feel? What can you do to make it happen?
Write about the thoughts and pictures that come to mind when you think of your partner’s previous relationships.
Write a letter to your partner, expressing your thanks for their love and support despite your struggles with jealousy.
Imagine having an open and honest talk with your partner about your jealousy. What would you say? How would you want them to respond?

Explore the idea of forgiveness and how it can help you let go of jealousy.
Make a list of positive phrases or thoughts you can use to replace negative ones when jealousy arises.
Think about the influence of society and comparisons on your jealousy. How can you deal with them?
Write about activities or hobbies that make you happy and distract you from feeling jealous.
Describe a future where you’ve successfully overcome jealousy. How does it affect your relationship?
Reflect on the importance of taking care of yourself and being kind to yourself when dealing with jealousy.
Write a letter to your younger self, understanding and supporting your struggles with jealousy.
Explore any communication patterns with your partner that may contribute to jealousy.
Make a list of qualities and values you appreciate about yoursel f, separate from comparing yourself to your partner’s past.
Reflect on how you can rebuild trust and how it impacts overcoming jealousy in your relationship.
Imagine seeking advice from a trusted friend or mentor regarding your jealousy. What would they say?
Write about times when you’ve grown and improved as a result of facing your jealousy.
Reflect on how your past experiences shape how you see relationships and jealousy.
Write a forgiveness letter to yourself, acknowledging mistakes related to jealousy and committing to personal growth.
Explore different perspectives on love and relationships that can help change your thoughts about jealousy.

30 shadow work prompts for jealousy in relationships

Think about a time when jealousy led you to do or say something negative. What can you learn from that experience?
Write about the deeper feelings behind your jealousy. Are you afraid of being left out or not being good enough?
Write a letter to your partner, expressing your vulnerability and sharing how your jealousy affects your relationship.
Reflect on moments from your childhood or previous relationships that may have influenced your jealousy.
Explore any beliefs you have about yourself or relationships that make you feel jealous.
Write about a specific situation that recently made you jealous. How could you respond differently in the future?
Reflect on how jealousy might stem from feeling like there’s not enough love or attention to go around.
Make a list of positive qualities and strengths you bring to your relationship, focusing on building self-esteem.
Explore past experiences of betrayal or heartbreak that may impact your ability to trust and fuel jealousy.
Reflect on how self-worth and self-love can help overcome jealousy and create healthier relationships.
Write a letter to yourself, acknowledging your progress in managing jealousy and committing to growth.
Explore the importance of setting boundaries in relationships and how they can help alleviate jealousy.
Reflect on the impact of social media on your jealousy and explore strategies for managing its influence.
Write about moments when you’ve felt secure and confident in your relationship. What made you feel that way?
Explore the role of open communication with your partner regarding jealousy and brainstorm ways to initiate these conversations.

Write a letter to your jealousy, expressing gratitude for the lessons it has taught you and your intention to let it go.
Reflect on any childhood experiences or messages about love and relationships that contribute to your jealousy.
Explore different ways to see situations that trigger jealousy, seeking more balanced and rational perspectives.
Write about activities or practices that help you take care of yourself and feel better during moments of jealousy.
Reflect on the role of empathy and compassion in overcoming jealousy, both toward yourself and your partner.
Write a forgiveness letter to someone who triggered your jealousy, letting go of resentment and committing to personal growth.
Explore self-soothing techniques like deep breathing or visualization to help manage jealousy in the moment.
Reflect on the impact of comparison and seeking validation on your jealousy and explore strategies to reduce their influence.
Write a gratitude list , focusing on the positive aspects of your relationship and shifting away from jealousy.
Explore the concept of self-validation and the importance of finding worth and validation from within.
Reflect on the role of trust-building activities and transparency in alleviating jealousy in your relationship.
Write a letter to your future self, envisioning a version of you who has overcome jealousy and thrives in healthy relationships.
Explore the impact of self-compassion and self-forgiveness on overcoming jealousy.
Reflect on times when you chose love and understanding over jealousy and celebrate your growth.
Write a mantra or affirmation that captures your intention to release jealousy and embrace love, trust, and joy in relationships.

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30 jealousy journal prompts for adults

Reflect on a recent experience that triggered jealousy. What thoughts and emotions came up?
Explore the specific fears or insecurities underlying your jealousy in relationships.
Write about a time when jealousy led to a negative outcome in your personal or professional life. What did you learn from it?
Reflect on how jealousy affects your overall well-being and happiness. How does it impact your emotions?
Describe a time when you successfully managed and overcame jealousy . What strategies or tools did you use?
Explore patterns or triggers that intensify your jealousy. Are there recurring themes or situations?
Write a letter to yourself, offering compassion and understanding for your struggles with jealousy and committing to growth.
Reflect on how past experiences or beliefs contribute to your jealousy. How can you challenge and change those beliefs ?
Describe a situation where jealousy negatively affected your relationships or interactions with others. How could you have responded differently?
Reflect on the impact of jealousy on your self-esteem and self-worth. How can you build a stronger sense of self-acceptance ?
Write about activities or hobbies that bring you joy and help distract you from feelings of jealousy. How can you incorporate more of these activities into your life?
Reflect on the influence of comparison and social media on your feelings of jealousy. How can you limit their impact and focus on your own journey?
Describe a supportive person in your life who helps you navigate feelings of jealousy. How do they provide guidance and understanding?
Write a list of positive affirmations that counteract the negative thoughts and self-doubt triggered by jealousy.
Reflect on the role of gratitude in shifting your mindset away from jealousy. Write about moments of gratitude in your life.

Explore the impact of jealousy on your relationships and connections. How can you foster trust and open communication to alleviate jealousy?
Write a letter to a fictional character or role model who embodies qualities you admire and can learn from in relation to jealousy.
Explore different self-care practices that support your emotional well-being and help you manage jealousy effectively.
Reflect on the role of forgiveness, both towards yourself and others, in releasing the grip of jealousy and fostering personal growth.
Describe a future scenario where jealousy no longer has power over you. How does that impact your relationships and overall happiness?
Write a letter to your younger self, offering guidance and reassurance regarding your struggles with jealousy as an adult.
Reflect on moments when you have chosen love, trust, and understanding over jealousy. How have those choices enriched your relationships?
Explore the concept of self-awareness and its role in identifying and addressing the root causes of jealousy in your life.
Write about a relationship where jealousy is absent or minimal. What factors contribute to the absence of jealousy in that dynamic?
Reflect on the progress you have made in managing and overcoming jealousy as an adult. Celebrate your growth and resilience.
Write a letter of gratitude to someone who has inspired you to overcome jealousy and embrace healthier relationships.
Explore different perspectives on love, relationships, and personal growth that can help shift your mindset away from jealousy.
Reflect on the ways in which you have grown and learned from your experiences with jealousy. What lessons have you learned ?
Write a letter to yourself, acknowledging your journey and commitment to growth. Encourage yourself to keep moving forward and embracing healthier ways of relating.
Write a closing letter to jealousy, declaring your intention to release its hold on your life and embrace love, joy, and abundance.

FAQ: What’s the psychology behind jealousy?

You know, jealousy is something we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives.

It’s that little green monster that pops up when we feel threatened or worried about losing something or someone we value.

So, here’s the thing: jealousy is actually rooted in our natural human instincts . Back in the day, when our ancient ancestors roamed the Earth, jealousy played a role in their survival.

They had to compete for limited resources, including mates, food, and shelter. Feeling envious helped them protect what was important to them and ensure their own survival.

But in today’s world, our needs and desires have evolved, and so has jealousy. It’s not just about physical resources anymore; it can also be triggered by emotional and social factors.

We might feel jealous when a friend gets a better grade, when someone we care about spends more time with someone else, or even when we see someone on social media living what seems like a perfect life.

The psychology behind jealousy is complex . It often stems from our own insecurities and fears of not being enough or losing something valuable.

When we feel jealous, it’s like a signal that something important to us is at risk. It can make us question our self-worth and create a sense of inadequacy.

But here’s the cool part: By understanding the psychology behind jealousy, we can use it as a tool for personal growth .

When jealousy creeps in, instead of letting it consume us, we can take a step back and ask ourselves some thought-provoking journal prompts for jealousy.

What is it about this situation that makes me feel jealous? What insecurities might be triggering this emotion? Is there something I can learn about myself from this experience?

By digging deep and exploring these questions about jealousy, we gain valuable insights into our own desires, fears, and areas for personal improvement.

Jealousy becomes an opportunity for self-reflection and growth .

We can work on building our self-esteem, practicing gratitude for what we have, and focusing on our own unique journey rather than comparing ourselves to others.

FAQ: What are the causes of jealousy?

One major cause of jealousy is our own insecurities . Yep, those sneaky little thoughts that whisper, “Am I good enough?” or “What if someone else is better than me?”

When we doubt ourselves or feel unsure about our worth, it becomes easier for jealousy to creep in. It’s like our inner critic teams up with jealousy to make us doubt our own awesomeness.

Another cause of jealousy is comparison . We, humans, have a knack for looking at what others have and wishing we had it.

It’s natural to notice when someone else gets something we desire, whether it’s a promotion, a new gadget, or even a romantic partner.

That little voice inside starts whispering, “Why don’t I have that too?” and jealousy stirs up within us.

Insecurity and comparison can intertwine. When we don’t feel secure in ourselves or our relationships, jealousy can rear its head even stronger.

We might worry that someone will take away what we cherish or that we’re not enough to keep someone’s attention.

These fears can intensify jealousy and make it harder to feel secure and content.

Social media also plays a role in fueling jealousy, believe it or not. When we see those picture-perfect posts of people seemingly living their best lives, it’s easy to fall into the comparison trap.

We start thinking, “Why isn’t my life that amazing?” or “Everyone seems happier than me.” It’s important to remember that social media often showcases the highlights, not the full story.

FAQ: What are the signs of jealousy?

One sign of jealousy is that icky feeling in your gut. You might notice a knot or a tightness, like butterflies gone wild.

It’s as if your intuition is tapping you on the shoulder, saying, “Hey, something’s not quite right here.”

Pay attention to that feeling, because it could be a sign that jealousy is trying to make its presence known.

Another sign is when you start comparing yourself to others .

Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and feeling a little twinge of envy when you see someone’s accomplishments or exciting adventures?

That’s jealousy whispering in your ear, making you question your own worth and desire what others have.

Jealousy can also show up in our behavior . We might find ourselves becoming a bit more possessive or territorial.

Maybe you notice that you’re keeping tabs on your friend’s interactions or feel a pang of discomfort when they spend time with others.

These behaviors can be signs that jealousy is trying to take control .

Sometimes, jealousy can even make us a bit defensive. When we feel jealous, we might find ourselves getting defensive when someone points out our own shortcomings or achievements.

It’s like a protective shield going up, trying to preserve our self-esteem and hide our insecurities.

FAQ: How can I get over my jealousy?

First, it’s important to acknowledge and accept your feelings of jealousy . It’s completely normal to feel this way sometimes, and there’s no need to beat yourself up about it.

Embrace your negative emotions with kindness and compassion, knowing that they are a part of being human.

Next, let’s shift our focus inward. Jealousy often arises from our own insecurities and fears. So, let’s shine a light on those insecurities and work on building our self-confidence .

Take some time to recognize your unique strengths, talents, and accomplishments. Celebrate your own journey and all the amazing things you bring to the table.

Now, here’s a powerful tool for overcoming jealousy: gratitude.

When we cultivate a grateful mindset, it shifts our attention away from what others have and towards what we have in our own lives.

Take a moment each day to appreciate the blessings , big and small, that surround you.

Gratitude helps us see the abundance in our lives and diminishes the need to compare ourselves to others.

Communication is key. If your jealousy stems from a specific relationship or situation, consider having an open and honest conversation with the person involved.

Share your feelings in a calm and respectful manner, expressing your needs and concerns. Healthy communication can help build trust and understanding, easing the grip of jealousy.

Remember to focus on your own journey. Comparison is the thief of joy, as they say. Instead of comparing yourself to others, channel that energy into personal growth.

Set goals, pursue your passions, and work on becoming the best version of yourself . By shifting your focus inward, you’ll find that there’s less room for jealousy to take hold.

Lastly, surround yourself with positivity and support . Spend time with people who uplift and inspire you.

Seek out communities and friendships that encourage personal growth and celebrate each other’s successes.

When you’re surrounded by a positive and nurturing environment, it becomes easier to let go of jealousy and embrace a more joyful and contented mindset.

FAQ: What is journaling, and what are the best journaling tips?

Journaling is like having a personal conversation with yourself on paper. It’s a way to express your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and experiences in a safe and private space.

First tip: Make it your own ! There’s no right or wrong way to journal. It’s all about finding a style and format that work for you.

Whether you prefer a traditional notebook , a digital journaling app, or even a combination of both, choose a method that feels comfortable and inviting.

Make your journaling space a reflection of your unique personality.

Tip number two: Set the mood. Creating a cozy and peaceful atmosphere can enhance your journaling experience. Find a quiet space where you can relax and focus.

Light a vanilla cupcake-scented candle , play some soft music, or sip on a warm cup of tea. By setting the mood, you invite a sense of calmness and creativity into your journaling practice.

Next, let’s talk about consistency. Try to establish a regular journaling routine . It could be daily, weekly, or whatever frequency works best for you.

Consistency allows you to develop a deeper connection with yourself and make journaling a natural part of your life. So, find a rhythm that fits your schedule and stick to it.

Now, here’s an exciting tip: get creative ! Journaling doesn’t have to be limited to words alone.

Feel free to explore different creative outlets like doodling, sketching, or even adding sticke rs and photographs to your journal.

Let your imagination run wild and express yourself in ways that go beyond traditional writing. This brings a sense of fun and playfulness to your journaling practice.

Tip number four: Write freely and without judgment . Remember, your journal is a safe space for you to be completely honest and authentic.

Write without worrying about grammar, spelling, or making everything sound perfect.

Embrace the messiness, the rawness, and the beauty of your thoughts and feelings. Give yourself permission to be vulnerable and let your true self shine through.

Lastly, let’s talk about writing prompts for jealousy. Sometimes, it can be helpful to have a little guidance to get your thoughts flowing.

Jealousy journal prompts are like little invitations to explore different topics or reflect on specific questions.

They can be a great way to jumpstart your journaling and dive deeper into self-reflection.

FAQ: How can journaling help me overcome jealousy?

When you put your thoughts and feelings down on paper, it’s like giving them a voice. Journaling for jealousy provides a safe and private space for you to express your emotions without judgment.

So, when those feelings of jealousy bubble up inside you, grab your journal and let it all out.

Write about what triggers your jealousy, how it makes you feel, and any thoughts or fears that come up.

By acknowledging and releasing these emotions, you create space for healing and growth .

Journaling also helps us gain a deeper understanding of ourselves . Through reflection, we can uncover the underlying causes of our jealousy.

Take some time to explore your insecurities, fears, and past experiences that may contribute to these feelings.

By shining a light on these underlying factors, you can start to address them and work towards healing and self-acceptance.

Journaling can also be a space for reflection and growth . Consider asking yourself thought-provoking questions about your jealousy.

What can you learn from these experiences? Are there any patterns or triggers you notice? How can you respond differently in the future?

By engaging in this self-reflection, you empower yourself to take control of your emotions and responses. Journaling becomes a tool for personal growth and transformation.

Journaling also allows you to track your progress over time . As you continue on your journey to overcome jealousy, flip back through your journal entries and notice the changes.

Celebrate the moments of growth and self-discovery you’ve experienced.

Recognize the patterns you’ve identified and the strategies you’ve developed. By witnessing your own progress, you gain confidence in your ability to overcome jealousy.

FAQ: How do I use these journal prompts for jealousy?

Let’s talk about how you can use journal prompts to explore and overcome your feelings of jealousy.

Journal prompts are like little guideposts that help you delve deeper into your emotions and gain insights about yourself.

They provide a starting point for reflection and self-discovery .

So, grab your journal, and let’s dive into using these journaling prompts for jealousy to navigate your journey toward letting go of jealousy.

When you come across a journal prompt about jealousy, take a moment to read it and let it sink in.

Notice how it resonates with you and what thoughts or emotions it brings up. Then, grab your pen and start writing. There’s no right or wrong answer—just your honest thoughts and feelings.

Let’s say the prompt is something like, “What triggers my jealousy the most?” Take a moment to reflect on this question.

Think about the situations, people, or circumstances that tend to ignite those feelings of jealousy within you.

It could be a specific type of achievement, a certain relationship dynamic, or even comparisons on social media.

Write about these triggers and explore how they make you feel. Be open and honest with yourself .

Have you used journal prompts for jealousy before?

I’m a personal growth and self-care expert, as well as an avid motorcycle enthusiast and coffee and sweets lover. Through Lauraconteuse, I provide insightful and practical advice on topics such as self-care, self-love, personal growth, and productivity, drawing from my very own extensive experience and knowledge in the field. My blog has helped countless people achieve their goals and live more fulfilling lives, and my goal is to continue to inspire and empower others.

ICE SPICE's First LP

From debuts to do-overs, what it means to start an artistic life — at any age

Letter From the Editor

A cover of T: The New York Times Style Magazine's April 21, 2024 Culture issue, with the heading "Beginners. From debuts to do-overs, what it means to start an artistic life — at any age." On the cover is Ice Spice, with orange hair, wearing a black ruched top with one shoulder strap and a crucifix necklace.

Clockwise from top left: Ice Spice, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Meg Stalter, Tyla, Sarah Pidgeon and Titus Kaphar.

T’s Culture issue looks at artistic beginnings in all their forms.

By Hanya Yanagihara

The First Stroke

A painting of a nude woman turning away from two men who are leaning over a balcony, with one whispering in the other's ear.

Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Susanna and the Elders” (1610).

Why, even as they progress in their practices, all artists remain perpetual beginners.

By Aatish Taseer

David Kershenbaum, wearing an open shirt and sunglasses, sits next to Tracy Chapman, wearing a jean jacket, in front of a control board in a recording studio.

Tracy Chapman (right).

Lester Cohen/Getty Images

Musicians, writers and others on the work that started it all for them — and on what, if anything, they’d change about it now.

Interviews by Lovia Gyarkye and Nicole Acheampong

When These Two First Worked Together

Marc Jacobs and Cindy Sherman.

Love, spats, splits and enduring affinity: creative partnerships that have stood the test of time.

Interviews by Ella Riley-Adams, Nick Haramis, Nicole Acheampong, Julia Halperin and Coco Romack

Begin Again

Jordi Roca.

Video by Anna Bosch Miralpeix

What it’s like to make new art after many years or amid new challenges — or to change careers completely.

Interviews by Michael Snyder, M.H. Miller and Emily Lordi

When the Beginning Is Also the End

Miguel Adrover.

Catarina Osório de Castro

People who found great creative success in one field — before life took them in a totally different direction.

By John Wogan and M.H. Miller

J u v e n i l i a

Do Ho Suh’s “Tiger Mask” (1971).

Courtesy of the artist © Do Ho Suh

What artists see when they look back at work they made in their youth.

Interviews by Julia Halperin, Kate Guadagnino and Juan A. Ramírez

A first album, a first restaurant, a first time on Broadway: Ten debuts happening right now.

Interviews by Juan A. Ramírez and Emily Lordi

How It Begins

Jenny Holzer.

Photographs by Nicholas Calcott

The very first steps, whether you’re an actor getting into character or an artist presenting the survey of your life’s work.

Interviews by Laura May Todd

The Beginners’ Hall of Fame

A floral painting against a purple background.

Tabboo!’s “Lavender Garden” (2023).

Courtesy of the artist, Karma and Gordon Robichaux

Six people who found a new creative calling later in life — or for whom recognition was long overdue.

By Jason Chen

Advice on Beginning

Kim Gordon.

Laura Levine/Corbis, via Getty Images

Ten creative minds on how to start, pivot and productively procrastinate.

Interviews by Kate Guadagnino

Courtesy of Joseph Dirand Architecture

We asked 80 artists and other creative people to tell us what they’re starting right now or hope to start very soon.

T’s Culture Issue: Beginners.

An exploration of artistic beginnings in all their forms.

There’s a reason all of us — magazine editors in particular, perhaps, but not only us — love an artistic debut. It’s not just that those releasing their first album, book or movie, or having their first gallery exhibit or Broadway show, are usually young; it’s that they embody that most delicious and evanescent of qualities: promise. Any painter could be the next Rothko or Basquiat; any singer could be the next Joni or Aretha. There the new artist sits, poised between our expectations and their unwritten reality. Becoming emotionally invested in an untested creative life is like becoming financially invested in an exciting new company — should they (or it) work, the reward is not just theirs but ours. “See?” we tell ourselves. “We knew it all along.”

But the real test of being an artist isn’t the first album, book, movie or Broadway show, as significant as those accomplishments are. It’s what happens after. All artists know that living a true creative life means facing an endless series of beginnings: It’s starting over after setbacks; it’s pushing forward through doubt and despair; it’s trying again when someone tells you no; it’s slogging ahead when no one seems to like or care about what you make; it’s ignoring the voice inside you that tells you to stop; it’s striving and failing, again and again and again. There is no point of complete security, no award or recognition that bestows total confidence — a life in art means that, to some degree, you’re starting anew every day. As the novelist Andrew Holleran tells T, “Writing is basically unconscious, and you don’t get any smarter about it. Imagine a brain surgeon who didn’t learn from each operation? We’d be horrified. But when you sit down to write, you’re always wondering how to do it.”

On the covers, clockwise from top left: ICE SPICE wears a Burberry dress, $2,290, burberry.com ; Graff necklace, price on request, graff.com ; and her own earrings and ring. Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Ian Bradley. Makeup by Karina Milan at the Wall Group. SKY LAKOTA-LYNCH wears a Canali coat, $3,060, canali.com ; and a Bode jacket, $1,080, bode.com . Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Delphine Danhier. Hair by Tsuki at Streeters. Makeup by Jamal Scott for YSL Beauty. MEG STALTER . Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Delphine Danhier. Hair by Tiago Goya at Home Agency using Oribe. Makeup by Holly Silius at R3-MGMT. TYLA wears a Ferragamo top, $1,190, and earrings, $730, ferragamo.com . Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Sasha Kelly. Hair by Christina “Tina” Trammell. Makeup by Jamal Scott for YSL Beauty. SARAH PIDGEON wears a Gucci dress, $24,500, gucci.com . Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Delphine Danhier. Hair by Tsuki at Streeters. Makeup by Jamal Scott for YSL Beauty. TITUS KAPHAR wears a Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello coat, $4,900, ysl.com . Photographed by Shikeith. Styled by Delphine Danhier. Hair by Tsuki at Streeters. Makeup by Jamal Scott for YSL Beauty.

In this issue, we look at what it means for an artist to begin, from actual debuts (such as Sky Lakota-Lynch, one of our cover stars, who’s appearing this spring in “The Outsiders,” his first original Broadway role) to do-overs (such as Jon Bon Jovi, about to embark on tour after throat surgery and a 40-year career, or the cabaret performer turned visual artist Justin Vivian Bond). And though the artists who appear in these pages are all different, they share a spirit of generosity: It’s no easy thing to give voice to your dreams and insecurities, much less to do so publicly. Their collective perseverance — a mix of dogged determination and wild hope — is a reminder for all of us that a creative life, that all life, takes nerve. It takes humility. It takes a kind of arrogance that sees you through the most barren periods.

And by the way: You don’t need to be young to lead a creative life. All you have to do is start. Start — and then never stop.

On March 12, as we were readying this issue to go to press, one of our colleagues, Carter Love, T’s senior photography editor, died. He was 41.

Being a good photo editor demands taste and a sense of coordination. For a fashion or celebrity shoot, they, along with the creative director and style director, assemble teams: the photographer, of course, but also the stylist, models, hair and makeup artists and set designers. For a travel story, the photo editor selects and hires the fixer, the photographer, the location scout, the translator and the transportation. Once on set, a photo editor stays until the very end of the shoot, even if the shoot goes all day. Carter worked on these — and many other — kinds of stories, often simultaneously; in this issue alone, he produced a dozen images, from the portrait of the longtime collaborators Cindy Sherman and Marc Jacobs to the picture of the fashion designer turned photographer Miguel Adrover.

Along with his native senses of taste and coordination, Carter was — crucially — able to laugh at the absurdities, the unexpected little (and not-so-little) disasters that inevitably arise during a shoot, no matter how thorough the planning: rain on a day when sun was predicted; equipment stuck in customs; a subject’s last-minute cancellation. He had a big laugh, resonant and full, which everyone in the office could hear; at work parties, he sometimes broke into song. In addition to his big laugh, he had a big voice. He was tall and wiry and quick moving, with magnificent red hair — I’d often look up from my desk and see his head and torso streaking across the top of the cubicle walls, hurrying off somewhere.

One of Carter’s most used phrases was “absolutely.” Could I see more options from this shoot? “Absolutely.” Could I have a list of the talent that had already confirmed? “Absolutely.” Thanks, Carter, for this new information. “Absolutely.”

Barely a week after his death, that word keeps beating in my head. Will we always ask ourselves why he had to die? Absolutely. Were we lucky to work with him? Absolutely. Will we miss him? Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Digital production and design: Danny DeBelius, Amy Fang, Chris Littlewood, Coco Romack, Carla Valdivia Nakatani and Jamie Sims.

ONE EVENING 17 years ago, V.S. Naipaul came to dinner at my flat in Delhi. The writer, who had become something of a mentor to me, was transfixed by a painting I had bought a few years before. It was a self-portrait, over 7 feet tall and 5 feet wide. “I find it hypnotic,” Naipaul said, filing away spoonfuls of yellow dal. Observing the beauty of the hand clasped (as if in horror) over the mouth, the thumb livid against the dark hollows of the eyes, he added of the artist, “This is someone who has really seen, who has gone back again and again to see.”

Listen to this article, read by Neil Shah

I was at the beginning of my writing career, using my first advances to collect a few works of art. It was thrilling to have someone with as discerning an eye as Naipaul’s — “the brilliant noticer,” in the words of the literary critic James Wood — approve of “How Did You Sleep?” (2002), but it also made me sad. Its creator, Zack, who’d been a close friend at Amherst College in Massachusetts in the late 1990s, had recently given up painting, and “How Did You Sleep?” had become a symbol to me of the precarity of what it means to get started as an artist.

The Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi was 17 in 1610 when she painted “Susanna and the Elders” (above). She went on to be the 17th century’s most accomplished female painter.

Zack, now 43, was of a mixed-race background from Topeka, Kan. After struggling with feelings of inferiority in our first year related to his public school education, he taught himself to paint from scratch. I would visit him and watch as he, dressed in paint-stained khakis and New Balance sneakers, toiled away at the self-portraits that were his trademark. He was a model to me of artistic labor and discipline, even if those early paintings were painfully amateurish.

Then, in our last semester, having been abroad a while, I entered Fayerweather Hall for the art department’s end-of-year show and saw “How Did You Sleep?” I was dumbstruck. I’m not sure I would’ve even been able to recognize it as Zack’s work — so prodigious had been his development as a painter — if it hadn’t been a self-portrait. Painted in the wake of 9/11, it showed the artist in a blue shirt with an expression of prophetic terror, as if watching a disaster foretold. I remember wanting to own it because it was proof, like none I had ever had before, that there really did exist such a thing in the world as raw talent. I persuaded Zack to sell it to me. The painting followed me from Amherst to my first job in New York, and on to London and Delhi.

By the time Naipaul saw it, Zack was working in strategic and financial communications in New York and no longer painting — “Every notary bears within him the debris of a poet,” Gustave Flaubert tells us. “My new job is intense,” Zack had written to say. “It’ll be good for a few years, but it’s not a career.” But neither was art; and Zack, who works as a researcher at Google now, was my first fearful example of how that mythical thing we call talent is real, and how talent alone isn’t enough.

IT WASN’T MY intention to start an essay about artistic beginnings with a story of artistic death. I love those romantic tales of creative daring and breakthrough: the English travel writer and novelist Bruce Chatwin quitting his job at The Sunday Times of London’s magazine with a simple telegram that read, “Have gone to Patagonia”; or, more dramatically, Paul Gauguin abandoning his wife, kids and job as a salesman to pursue his dream of being a painter. I love the improbability of the lives that could not have been: Salman Rushdie, the adman; W. Somerset Maugham, the doctor; the director Kathryn Bigelow, renovating dilapidated apartments in New York with the then-obscure composer Philip Glass. I remember Arundhati Roy teaching my mother and aunt aerobics in the basement of the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi before going on to win the Booker Prize for her debut novel, “The God of Small Things” (1997). It’s exhilarating to see destiny pick those who could but only have been artists out of the mundanity of their lives and light the way to a life of vocation.

I’m especially moved by those first moments of validation by which an artist comes out to himself, as it were. Consider Joseph Conrad in his mid-30s, working aboard the ship Torrens, with the manuscript of his first novel, “Almayer’s Folly” (1895). It had acquired, he writes in “A Personal Record” (1912), “a faded look and an ancient, yellowish complexion.” At sea, Conrad met his first reader, Jacques, a “young Cambridge man.” “Well, what do you say?” Conrad, brimming with anxiety, asked his new friend. “Is it worth finishing?” “ ‘Distinctly,’ he answered, in his sedate, veiled voice,” Conrad recalls years later, “and then coughed a little.” With that one word, Jacques, who was soon to be carried away by a fatal cold, had given a seafaring Polish exile a vital nod of encouragement. “The purpose instilled into me by his simple and final ‘Distinctly,’” writes Conrad, one of literature’s late bloomers (he was 38 when he published his first novel), “remained dormant, yet alive to await its opportunity.”

This quiet admission to oneself, as sacred as the vows of priesthood, of wanting to undertake the creative life is a necessary step; but like talent, it’s not enough. To be an artist is not a private act but a public one. No artist is born into a vacuum, or later speaks into one. They are as much a product of the society they emerge from as a response to it. Nor is artistic expression all spirit, all feeling. As Naipaul has frequently noted, writers require a complex edifice of interlocking parts — an infrastructure, if you will — to thrive. More broadly speaking, all successful artists rely on a network of critics, journals and newspapers, a discerning audience, bookshops and concert halls and galleries — which is generations in the making, presupposing certain values, certain economic and political realities. The Ukrainian-born novelist Clarice Lispector came of age in the Brazil of the 1920s. At 13, she “consciously claimed the desire to write,” as her biographer Benjamin Moser quotes her in “Why This World” (2009), but no sooner had she claimed her destiny than she felt herself in a void. The idea of vocation had been instilled in her, but that didn’t mean she knew how to proceed. “Writing was always difficult for me,” Lispector once wrote, “even though I had begun with what is known as vocation. Vocation is different from talent. One can have vocation and not talent; one can be called and not know how to go.”

Lispector had both vocation and talent, but what makes any artist’s first steps so tentative is that the path forward is narrower than we imagine. We come into the world believing we can be a great many things (and for a great many this is true) but, for those destined to be artists, the creative choices they make are almost as limited as the choice of being an artist itself. Maugham wanted to demystify the impulse that had him give up medicine to answer his calling as a novelist. “I am a writer as I might have been a doctor or a lawyer,” he writes in “The Summing Up,” his 1938 literary memoir, but, soon after that, despite himself, Maugham stumbles on that aspect of the artistic life that eludes banalization, for it’s truly mysterious — namely, the bond between the artist and his subject. “Though the whole world,” writes Maugham, “with everyone in it and all its sights and events, is your material, you yourself can only deal with what corresponds to some secret spring in your own nature.”

A painting of a skull next to an hourglass with flowers, butterflies and bubbles around it.

“Vanitas Still Life” (circa 1665-70) by Jan van Kessel the Elder, who was from a long line of celebrated Flemish painters — Pieter Bruegel the Elder was his great-grandfather — and was perhaps destined to be an artist.

It’s this, the inexorability of the correspondence between an artist and the world, that gives those first steps their magical quality. It represents a rebirth so profound that it can often entail the killing off of a former self. One of my literary heroes, the writer Rebecca West — the author of that magisterial work of travel, inquiry and sympathy “Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia” (1940) — was abandoned (as I was) by her father as a child. In late Victorian England, it left her with an exaggerated regard for what were seen as male qualities, as well as the need to compensate for their absence. “Men, she felt,” writes J.R. Hammond in “H.G. Wells and Rebecca West” (1991), his biography of their romantic and literary relationship, “should be strong and dependable; deep inside herself she sensed they were not to be trusted.” These gendered dynamics were surely at work as West, first making her way in the world at age 20, sloughed off the softer given name of Cissie Fairfield to adopt, as a pseudonym, the name of the spirited protagonist of Henrik Ibsen’s play “Rosmersholm” (1886).

No artist is without this set of special circumstances. They are the ground from which the need for expression arises. The path forward comes upon the artist-in-waiting with the power of certain mathematical proofs, elegant, inevitable, at once simple and inscrutable. “Falling in love for the first time and getting started as a writer,” my friend the writer Karan Mahajan, 39, the author of the novels “Family Planning” (2008) and “The Association of Small Bombs” (2016), replied by email when I asked him what it had been like for him, “both things happened at once for me. Suddenly, I had my material, and it encompassed all aspects of my life: my childhood in Delhi; immigration to the United States as a student; a future decided by plane journeys. I could love myself as the other loved me.”

For the Pakistani-born American painter Salman Toor, 40, the moment when, he says, “something vital clicked into place” meant that he suddenly found himself in “a direct relationship” between the things he was thinking and talking about every day and the paintings he was at work on. “In 2016,” he says, “I did a few paintings out of a need to be completely honest with myself. I wanted to illustrate the stories I was bursting to tell. A lot of these stories were about coming out and showing the excitement, anxieties and challenges of belonging to multiple cultures and living a cute little life in the East Village.”

The date surprised me. I had been aware of Toor’s work for almost a decade before this moment. To me, he was the painter of a certain kind of South Asian disquiet. No one captured the massive cultural and economic disparities of my life in Delhi (and his in Lahore) like Toor. Upon scenes of revelry and privilege — a party, a picnic, a rich westernized couple frolicking out of doors with a glass of wine and an iPhone — he would, in the form of servants in the background looking on, introduce an element of unease that hinted at the fragility of the societies we lived in. But quite unbeknown to me, Toor’s life in New York had opened up a new vein of material. To put it another way, he had begun again. And this is what we tend to forget: In the careers of certain artists, those who make big, varied bodies of work in which different strands of their experience are subsumed, the business of beginning, and beginning again, never ceases. Each new beginning brings with it all the uncertainty and blankness of the first. Experience might protect such an artist from forcing what’s clearly not working, but that core anxiety of not knowing if one will create again always remains. “Do not worry,” Hemingway would console himself, “you have always written before and you will write now.”

WHAT CONSTITUTES A beginning? In the common conception, it’s the first book, the first album, the first show at a major gallery. Yet an artist has myriad private ways in which they mark moments of true breakthrough. My childhood friend the sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar, 42, regards her fourth album as her first. She had grown up under the influence of her mighty father, Ravi Shankar, the man credited with having introduced Indian classical music to the West. Every artist struggles with what the literary critic Harold Bloom has called the anxiety of influence but, in Anoushka’s case, it was even more pronounced. As she told me, Ravi Shankar was “my guru, my teacher, my father.” It was he who had composed her first three albums.

Ravi, before he went on to become the greatest sitarist of his generation, had been part of a dance troupe led by his brother Uday, which caused a sensation in the Europe and America of the 1930s. “Hindu thought, alive, authentic, in flesh and bone, in sound, gesture and spirit,” is how the French mystic René Daumal describes the Shankar troupe in his book “Rasa” (1982), but Ravi was conflicted. He eventually broke with the troupe and dedicated himself entirely to the sitar. “He had a real directional shift that I didn’t have,” Anoushka says. Her beginnings, though she was six decades younger than her father, were in a sense more traditional. They entailed the surprise of finding newness within tradition. “I think my journey,” she says, “was more progressively finding how the thing that was in front of me — the sitar, namely — the thing that had been given to me, could be my outlet, could be my voice.”

A coda to this intergenerational tale of artistic beginnings is the story of Anoushka’s half sister, Norah Jones, who spent years of her childhood estranged from her father and grew up in Texas with her American mother. At a time when both Anoushka and I were discovering our half siblings, I remember going to see Norah play at little-known clubs on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She was staking claim to what felt like a genetic destiny in music, though in a tradition entirely different from that of her father and sister. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed beginnings as meager and transformational as these for, not long after, Norah’s debut album, “Come Away With Me” (2002), was released; it went on to win five Grammys, sell 30 million copies and all but save the piracy-shattered music industry.

We live in a society that prizes the individual above all else but, in the art of premodern Europe and classical India, to begin as an artist didn’t necessarily entail breaking with tradition, nor was it given to every artist to be original. “Raphael was adept at this,” writes Rachel Cusk in her travel memoir “The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy” (2009), in which she describes the Italian Renaissance painter’s relationship to his first guru, Perugino. Raphael had become so good at imitating Perugino, Cusk tells us, that the copies of his master’s work were indistinguishable from the originals. The art of pastiche, of inhaling the influence of an older admired artist so completely that it enters your soul, exists today, too. The South African writer J.M. Coetzee’s early works owe a huge debt to Samuel Beckett, as Rushdie’s do to Gabriel García Márquez and Thomas Pynchon’s to James Joyce. The difference in the modern era is that influence is something we must shrug off in order to become our own people, yet not everyone can. Cusk deals very movingly with Raphael’s quest (and ultimate failure) to be his own man. In a field crowded with giants such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he “retreated behind the mask of humility, never to come out again.” But far from this being his downfall as an artist, it, too, was a kind of beginning. “In the end,” writes Cusk, “his borrowing of such greatness amounted to greatness itself. Not everyone who sees a Michelangelo can go off and paint a Michelangelo.”

THERE ARE SO many ways to begin. I said it wasn’t my intention to open with a story of artistic death, but I never explained why I did. The reason is that after six books, and 20 years after writing my first publishable sentences, stamina, endurance and the ability to stay the course have come to mean at least as much to me as that first raw efflorescence of talent. If Zack’s story acquired the force of parable for me, it was because it showed me the vanity of our preoccupation with talent. Many with fewer gifts who are yet more steadfast go on to have brilliant careers as artists. There’s an undeniable mystery in why some among us become artists, but there’s a greater mystery to me still in those who survive the vicissitudes of creative life, leaving behind bodies of work through which there runs an arc of growth as sublime as the vaulting of a Gothic cathedral.

A true artist always brings something new into the world. A new color, a new complexion, a new way of looking — a “new kind of beauty,” to use Marcel Proust’s phrase for the special distinctiveness he felt that Fyodor Dostoyevsky had brought to literature. We make the mistake of thinking of that newness as an externality, a scaffolding, a mere matter of style. But in fact, the originality we detect on the surface is an emanation from the birth of a new idea. It’s something far more radical, far more unnerving, than we are prepared to accept. Real artists bring about real rupture. We want to domesticate the discomfort that makes us feel but, deep down, we know the old rules no longer apply; and for one fleeting moment, our world, with us in it, is laid bare, transfigured by the imagination of someone who has dared to see it anew.

Read by Neil Shah. Narration produced by Emma Kehlbeck. Engineered by Quinton Kamara

Amy Tan , 72, writer, on “The Joy Luck Club” (1989)

Amy Tan holds Daisy Tan's right elbow with her left hand. They are walking down the a sidewalk and smiling.

Tan with her mother, Daisy Tan, in San Francisco in 1989. The author’s 11th book, “The Backyard Bird Chronicles,” a collection of illustrated essays, is out this month.

Robert Foothorap

I was a business writer [of marketing materials for companies and brochures for their employees] in the mid-1980s and, even though I was successful, I was unhappy. I wasn’t doing anything meaningful. Writing fiction allowed me, through subterfuge, to access emotional realms that I hadn’t explored before. When you write your first novel, you tend to include a lot of autobiographical elements. “The Joy Luck Club” [about the lives of four Chinese immigrant women and their American-born daughters] became deeply personal without my knowing it. I wasn’t consciously writing about racism or generational divides, even though that’s exactly what I was writing about. At that time [Tan was 37 when the book came out], I was just trying to find a story.

A cover of the book "The Joy Luck Club" with illustrations of dragons and a mirrored cloud-like pattern.

People got all kinds of things out of it. They said it saved their marriage or helped their relationships. I felt wonderful about that, but I couldn’t take credit. I didn’t intend to write a book that was going to improve people’s lives. That would’ve been a noble pursuit but, to do that, I’d have had to come up with a book that was very different — less spontaneous and honest. Without a doubt, what made me proudest was that my mother read it. She wasn’t proficient in English, but she understood it more than anybody else. — L.G.

Avril Lavigne , 39, musician, on “Let Go” (2002)

Avril Lavigne sits cross-legged on an office chair wearing headphones with a microphone in front of her face.

Lavigne at a recording studio in Cologne, Germany, in 2002. The musician’s new tour, “Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits,” begins next month.

Fryderyk Gabowicz/Picture Alliance/Getty Images

I remember going into the studio and people trying to tell me what to do or how my music should be, but I knew what I wanted to create. “Let Go” reflects how I felt as a young girl coming into the music industry. I was 15 when I got signed and 16 when I made that album. I had all this angst and rebellion, and I wanted to be expressive in that tone. But the adults around me kept delivering cheesy song ideas, and I wasn’t feeling the way people were playing the guitar. It was all too light and fluffy; that’s the stuff that made me run.

The cover for Avril Lavigne's Let Go album, with the text in a scratched font, and a blurred cover image of Lavigne, wearing all navy, with her arms crossed, standing on the street.

Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment and Avril Lavigne

When I went to Los Angeles and connected with [the album’s co-writers Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock of] the Matrix and Clif Magness, they were way cooler and more open-minded. Lauren and I spent a lot of time together. I sat with her in the backyard on a picnic blanket writing “Complicated”; we really connected. I was finally understood. The production was a little poppy for me. If I had to redo the album today, I’d tweak some things here and there production-wise and apply some of my experience from the past 20 years. Still, the important songs like “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated” rocked enough — they had the live guitar and drums — and “I’m With You” wasn’t too polished. On songs like “Unwanted” and “Losing Grip,” we really went all the way — no holding back. — L.G.

Chloë Sevigny , 49, actress, on “Kids” (1995)

Chloë Sevigny turns to face the camera. Behind her are various theme park attractions, including a ferris wheel and a carousel.

Sevigny at the Jersey Shore in 1995. The actress, who has appeared in over 50 features, recently shot “Bonjour Tristesse,” an upcoming adaptation of the 1954 Françoise Sagan novel.

From left: Lila Lee-Morrison; © Shining Excalibur Pictures/courtesy of Everett Collection

A poster for the movie "Kids", showing the letters K-I-D-S overlaid over four portraits of actors in, respectively, red, blue, green and yellow.

I still find the marketing around “Kids” [about a day in the life of some wayward New York City teenagers] a little outrageous: “The most shocking film of the year!” “A must-see!” But it worked. A lot of us making it thought of it as a cautionary tale, but so many kids have come up to me and said, “That’s why I moved to New York. I wanted to live that life.” I was an amateur [at 19, when I made the film]. I knew the cinematographer, Eric Alan Edwards. He’d shot [Gus Van Sant’s 1991 movie] “My Own Private Idaho,” and I thought the acting in that was impeccable. I trusted that if something [in my performance] was false, he’d say something. I don’t know why, but I just gave myself over to [Edwards and the director, Larry Clark]; I trusted that they wanted to get to the truth of things.

The hardest scene for me to shoot was when [my character, 15-year-old Jennie] is at the clinic receiving information that she’d contracted H.I.V. I thought, “How does one even begin to try to act that?” I was very tentative. If I were to approach that scene now, I think I’d have the confidence to try more things — one take crying, others doing this and that. At the time, I was trying to be as real as I thought I could be on camera with a crew around me.

I’m surprised that “Kids” is still making such an impact, but I’m also not. Afterward, I thought, “OK, this set a bar. These are the kinds of people I want to work with.” — N.A.

A photo of five people posing for a photograph. Stephen King wears a green shirt and a jacket and holds a baby who is drinking from a bottle.

King, the author of over 70 books, with his wife, Tabitha, and their children (from left) Joe, Owen and Naomi at their house in Orrington, Maine, in 1979. His next book, a short-story collection titled “You Like It Darker,” will be published in May.

James Leonard

Stephen King , 76, writer, on “Carrie” (1974)

One of my rules about writing is similar to a rule in [the card game] Hearts: If it’s laid, it’s played. I have a tendency not to go back and reread things, particularly with “Carrie” [a horror novel about a bullied high school student capable of telekinesis]. I’m afraid of how naïve it may be, how much it might be the work of a very young writer. It’s like when you’re a kid and you don’t know how to behave. You look back on certain things and say, “I shouldn’t have grabbed that,” or, “That wasn’t polite.” I don’t want to go back and see that my shirttail was untucked or my fly was unzipped.

The cover of a book, with the title "Carrie: a novel of a girl with a frightening power." The cover image shows half a portrait of a woman with an embroidered jacket and brown hair blowing in the air.

Courtesy of Doubleday. Photo by Joshua Scott

I’d change a lot. It would have a little more depth when it came to the characters. Remember, it started as a short story. I had this idea about a girl with paranormal powers who was going to get revenge on the girls who made fun of her. It was too long for the markets that I had in mind, and I didn’t know very much about girls anyway, particularly girls’ gym classes and locker rooms, so I threw the story away. My wife fished it out of the trash, uncrumpled the pages, looked at it and said, “This is pretty good. I’ll help you.” It’s a very short book, way under 300 pages. Also, there are pejoratives that were common then that I wouldn’t use now, even though they’re realistic and come out of the mouths of characters we don’t like. On the whole, I must’ve done a fairly good job because the book was published [when I was 26] and [in 1976] they made a movie out of it.

One of the things I think about a lot was that my mother got to read it. She had cancer at that point and died before any of my other books were published. Because of “Carrie,” I had a chance to take care of her and get her in a hospice. By then we had the money, otherwise we would’ve been out of luck. — L.G.

A man with a mustache and short brown hair stands amid brown reeds.

Holleran in Florida in the 1980s. Three of the author’s five novels, including “Dancer From the Dance,” were republished in paperback this past December.

From left: Lee Calvin Yeomans, courtesy of Andrew Holleran; Ian Dickson/Shutterstock

Ian Dickson/Shutterstock

Andrew Holleran , 79, writer, on “Dancer From the Dance” (1978)

“Dancer” has had a life of its own, which I could’ve never predicted. I wrote the book at my parents’ house in Florida one winter [when I was 33]. It was going to be the last book I ever wrote, because I’d been writing for 10 years after graduating from an M.F.A. program and had only had one story published in a magazine. I said to myself, “You have to stop now and go to law school.” Luckily, the book came out of me very quickly and, in retrospect, became a description of six years I’d spent in New York. It was very easy because I’d obviously touched something that mattered to me.

I’ve never reread “Dancer” [about gay life in 1970s New York] so, while I’m sure that if I did, I’d revise, revise, revise, I can’t imagine changing any of it. The campy style of the letters that frame the book is probably outdated, which is a shame since I love camp.

I’ve learned since then that writing is basically unconscious, and you don’t get any smarter about it. Imagine a brain surgeon who didn’t learn from each operation? We’d be horrified. But when you sit down to write, you’re always wondering how to do it. — L.G.

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein stand on a staircase with a curved bannister and portraits hanging on wooden walls.

Harry and Stein, of the rock band Blondie, in the U.K. in 1977. Stein’s memoir, “Under a Rock,” will be published in June.

From left: Jeff Gilbert/Alamy Stock Photo; CBW/Alamy Stock Photo

The cover of the album Blondie, with the title in capital letters and italicized. It shows five people dressed in black tops and jackets standing in front of each other.

CBW/Alamy Stock Photo

Debbie Harry , 78, and Chris Stein , 74, musicians, on “Blondie” (1976)

Debbie Harry: We recorded “Blondie” [when Harry was 30 and Stein was 25] in a studio used by jazz musicians, and there wasn’t a lot of fancy recording technique. It was a different era. I think the fact that the album wasn’t overproduced gives it a kind of timelessness. We still perform some of those songs. Every once in a while, we drag up “X Offender” and “Rip Her to Shreds.”

Our music wasn’t just about one style or sound; we had songs that expressed different feelings and attitudes in music. A lot of things, like “Man Overboard” [a danceable heartbreak track], we really didn’t pull off the way I think Chris wanted to, but it’s there.

Chris Stein: That song would’ve worked fantastic with a dembow beat [but I wasn’t introduced to reggaeton until years later]. If I were to change anything about the album, it’d have more to do with the production than what we were slapping on the tape. Generally, we’d just go in and do a bunch of takes, pick the best one, throw some stuff on it and that was pretty much it. There was hardly any overdubbing. We learned so much from the producer Mike Chapman a couple of years later — the difference between “Blondie” and our later albums was like night and day.

Still, I like “Blondie.” It represents how we felt at the time and what was happening to us. When I look back on it, I think of the whole downtown milieu and a period in New York that I don’t know if anyone thought we’d be talking about 50 years later. — L.G.

Zadie Smith, wearing a black top and glasses, with her hair parted in the center, sits and looks over her left shoulder towards the camera. The wall behind her is red.

Smith at her mother’s home in northwest London in 2000. The author’s sixth novel, “The Fraud,” was published last year.

Courtesy of William Morrow. Photo by Joshua Scott

Zadie Smith , 48, writer, on “White Teeth” (2000)

I love the joy in my novel “White Teeth” [a multigenerational story of race and identity among the residents of London’s Willesden neighborhood], even though I haven’t picked it up in 25 years. Back then [Smith was 24 when the book came out], I was trying to write about people; I was interested in the interpersonal above all else. The people in the neighborhood I came from were always described in a manner of pathology, and I was trying to explain that we weren’t pathological. I was always writing around this kind of elephant in the room, which is what you know people have already assumed about your characters. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to do less of that because I’ve got company. There are so many writers from so many countries, particularly in West Africa, [that] I wanted to see as a child.

The cover of the book "White Teeth" with a white background and the title of the book embossed silver.

Courtesy of Penguin Random House

I’ve become more interested in power lately. I’m very aware of being like the Ancient Mariner, that the structures I’m talking about that made life not always pathological have vanished. The conditions of the characters in “White Teeth” — their decent health care, their reasonable housing, their free university education — are gone. I’m still on the side of joy, but the question is, what kind of structures allow people to experience it. As I’ve gotten older, I write about them not out of nostalgia but out of political urgency. — L.G.

Two figures stand in front of a memorial with finely carved names and large dates on a black granite wall.

Left: a mock-up of Lin’s 493-foot Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Right: Lin with her parents, Julia Chang Lin and Henry Huan Lin, at her Yale graduation in 1981. The designer’s 44th sculpture, for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, is scheduled to be completed next year.

Courtesy of Maya Lin (2)

A polaroid of three figures smiling, with their hands crossed, sitting on a low stone wall in formal attire.

Lin with her parents, Julia Chang Lin and Henry Huan Lin, at her Yale graduation in 1981. The designer’s 44th sculpture, for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, is scheduled to be completed next year.

Courtesy of Maya Lin

Maya Lin , 64, sculptor, on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982) in Washington, D.C.

It was a battle to keep the Vietnam Veterans Memorial simple and spare. I was moved by World War I memorials built by the French and British. They offered a much more realistic and sobering look at the high price of war, which is human life. When I went to the site [of what would become the monument] on Thanksgiving break [in 1980, when I was 20 and in my junior year at Yale], I felt a need to cut the earth and open it up. The structure isn’t so much an object inserted into the earth; it’s the earth itself being polished like a geode. I considered everything, even the walkway, which was put in to intentionally separate the wall from the ground. If you put the granite sidewalk all the way up against the wall, it would no longer be a polished geode — it’d be a curb. I put grass there. But no one could have predicted how popular it would be, so people trampled the grass and it died.

A year or two after the memorial was built, unbeknown to me, the architects of record worked with [the National] Park Service to put in [Belgian blocks on either side of the granite path]. That needs to be rethought because it’s an ugly detail. They’re out of scale. It drives me crazy every time I see it. — L.G.

Chapman with the producer David Kershenbaum at a Los Angeles recording studio in 1987. The musician’s debut album will be reissued on vinyl this summer to mark its 35th anniversary.

From left: Lester Cohen/Getty Images; courtesy of Elektra Records

A sepia-toned album cover, with the title "Tracy Chapman" rotated to the side, running vertically on the left side, and a portrait of Chapman looking down.

Courtesy of Elektra Records

Tracy Chapman , 60, musician, on “Tracy Chapman” (1988)

I had this notion when I first started writing songs that to respect the muse — or whatever source of inspiration brought me to put pen to paper — I shouldn’t do any editing. The first thing that came to me was meant to be. “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution,” which I wrote when I was 16, emerged from that mind-set. It was one of those songs that came out in one sitting. It’s a very forceful declaration.

A song like “Fast Car,” which I wrote when I was maybe 22, wasn’t a very long process, but it reflected a different strategy about songwriting. It was more about revelation, sharing a story about a person and the changes happening in their life. I made edits to “Fast Car.” I definitely changed words and lines. I’m too embarrassed to tell you exactly what, but it was the verse that starts “See, my old man’s got a problem.” Let’s just say that there was something else there.

In some ways, writing a song is about asking and answering questions: “Who is this character, why are they doing this and where is the story going?” When I was young, I thought all these questions could be answered with the first iteration of the song. I’m not as enamored with this idea that the very first thing that comes to mind is what I have to remain committed to. — L.G.

Jewel , 49, musician, on “Pieces of You” (1995)

Jewel, surrounded by people in a recording studio, wearing a white and orange striped shirt, looks back over her left shoulder.

Jewel at the musician Neil Young’s private studio in Northern California in 1994. An immersive exhibit of the singer-songwriter’s work will open at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., in May.

Courtesy of the Jewel Kilcher Archive and Bershaw Archival Management

What’s important to me about “Pieces of You” is that I made an honest album. I liked [the writers] Charles Bukowski and Anaïs Nin because they told the truth about themselves, and it wasn’t always pretty. With my work, my goal was to be just as honest. “Pieces of You” wasn’t more developed than I was — I didn’t know how to play with a band, and I didn’t choose a producer who’d make me sound slicker or lend their experience to make me sound more polished. I wanted it to be a snapshot of who I was [between 16 and 19]: inexperienced, emotionally charged and trying to figure life out.

An album cover, with the title "pieces of you" and text reading "what we call human nature in actuality is human habit." The cover image is Jewel, smiling with hair blowing in her face in a wing-shaped cutout.

Courtesy of Craft Recordings and Jewel

Writing was medicine for me. I had extreme anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia. I wrote songs to calm myself down and to help me fall asleep at night. I never wrote them thinking I’d have a career. There wasn’t really a craft — it was more about what comforted me, what suited me, what interested me to think and write about. I was an avid reader, and a lot of my writing took after Flannery O’Connor, [John] Steinbeck and [Anton] Chekhov, like short stories put to music.

I remember writing at that age that I didn’t want my music to be my best work of art — I wanted my life to be my best work of art. I take music seriously, but I take that promise to myself more seriously. — L.G.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.

JANE FONDA AND LILY TOMLIN, ACTRESSES Have co-starred in three films and a TV show, from “9 to 5” (1980) to “80 for Brady” (2023).

Video by Kurt Collins

JANE FONDA: It was 1978, and I heard that Lily Tomlin was performing in a [one-woman] show called “Appearing Nitely” in Los Angeles. I don’t know how many characters she played, but she embodied them all so fully. I was smitten. I went backstage to meet her. At the time, I was in the process of developing “9 to 5” [the 1980 comedy about a trio of female office workers who overthrow the company’s sexist boss] and, as I was driving home, I thought, “I don’t want to be in a movie about secretaries unless Lily Tomlin is in it.”

LILY TOMLIN: She swept in backstage with a big cape on. We couldn’t believe it — this was Jane Fonda! For a couple of years, I’d worn a hairdo from “Klute” [the 1971 thriller for which Fonda won an Oscar], but I didn’t have it when she showed up that day. I was like, “Why did I drop my ‘Klute’ hairdo at this propitious time?”

J.F.: It took a good year to convince Lily and Dolly [Parton, the film’s other lead] to do the movie. It’s not that they weren’t interested, but it was very difficult. Why was it so difficult, Lily?

L.T.: I think I was that way about everything.

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomnlinn pose for a portrait. Fonda has her arms crossed and Tomlin has her hands in her pockets

From left: Fonda, 86, and Tomlin, 84, photographed at Hubble Studio in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, on Jan. 29, 2024.

Kanya Iwana

J.F.: You are that way about everything: “I don’t know if I can do this. I’m not right for the part.” You do that every time. But it was your idea to get Colin Higgins to direct and to cast Dabney Coleman [as the boss]. You should’ve been the one producing it! My only decision was to make the movie, because one of my close friends, [the former director of the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau] Karen Nussbaum, would tell me stories about organizing women office workers and what they had to go through.

L.T.: I thought I had some lines that were hitting you over the head with the joke. Yet when the movie was released, those lines got the biggest response from the audience.

J.F.: Both of us got a kick out of Dolly’s innocence. When she showed up the first day, she’d memorized the entire script. And then the day that Dolly sang —

L.T.: Oh, that was a glorious moment.

J.F.: She used her long nails like a washboard and started to sing, “Working 9 to 5. …” Lily and I looked at each other and we knew: “This is it — we’ve got an anthem.” But I think my favorite shooting experiences were when we had the dead body in the back of the car. We went to the Apple Pan [a diner in Los Angeles] because Dolly wanted to get a cheeseburger, remember?

L.T.: Everybody would tell stories about their life, and we just fell in love with each other.

J.F.: Our worlds are so different. Our backgrounds are so different. Our senses of comedy — I mean, I don’t really have one.

L.T.: Jane was so earnest. She felt so passionate about every activist problem that she was trying to solve. It was inspiring and endearing.

J.F.: Since then, we’ve done seven seasons of [the Netflix TV series] “Grace and Frankie” [which ran from 2015 to 2022]. Ten days after we wrapped, we started a movie that we both like a lot called “Moving On.” When that came out [in 2023], I was interested in the reviews — almost every one of them talked about our chemistry. And it was like, “Well, maybe we should always work together.” — E.R.A.

Fonda: Hair: Jonathan Hanousek at Exclusive Artists Management. Makeup: David Deleon at Allyson Spiegelman Management. Tomlin: Hair: Darrell Redleaf Fielder at Aim Artists Agency. Makeup: Shelley Rucker at Aim Artists Agency. On-set producer: Joy Thomas. Photo assistant: Jeremy Eric Sinclair. Digital tech: Aron Norman

MARC JACOBS, FASHION DESIGNER, AND CINDY SHERMAN, ARTIST Have collaborated on multiple projects for the Marc Jacobs brand, from a 2005 photo book to the spring 2024 campaign.

Marc Jacobs and Cindy Sherman both stand in front of a gray background wearing black shirts and raising their right arms.

From left: Jacobs, 61, and Sherman, 70, photographed at Go Studios in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan, on March 5, 2024.

MARC JACOBS: In 2004, I reached out to ask if you’d [be in a Marc Jacobs campaign]. I knew your work very well, and I knew that you’d done an ad in 1984 for [the French fashion brand] Dorothée Bis. That made me think, “Maybe she’d do this with us.” I was a little intimidated about asking.

CINDY SHERMAN: I was so intimidated that you’d asked. I remember thinking, “I’m going to bring a bunch of wigs and makeup.” It was just me for a few shots, but then [the German photographer] Juergen [Teller] got playful and started putting himself in the pictures. He gradually shaved parts of his face and head. He’d started the shoot with a full head of hair and beard; by the end, he was completely bald with no facial hair at all.

M.J.: I wasn’t there, but I got calls from Juergen saying, “It’s [expletive] excellent, it’s [expletive] excellent.” He says that when he’s really excited. You created some hilarious characters. There was one where you were both older, sitting on a bench.

C.S.: Rifling through a big bag.

M.J.: That image became a billboard on Melrose [Avenue in Los Angeles]. It was great because fashion campaigns like that didn’t exist back then. Nobody would’ve ever said, “ That’s our ad,” because it wasn’t exactly selling clothes or bags. But it was exciting.

C.S.: What’s funny is that you’d asked me, a year or two ago during Covid, to do something — I don’t even remember what it was. I’d gained a bit of weight, so I was self-conscious and kept turning you down. [For the 2024 campaign I ended up doing] some of the outfits were a little tight. The people assisting me said, “We can fix that.” And I said, “No, no, it’s [perfect for] the character.” I guess I could’ve thought of someone who was trying to hide, but I decided, “No, she seems like she could just let it all hang out in her leather pants.” How do you feel when you see different types of women wearing your pieces or putting them together in unusual ways?

M.J.: It’s the ultimate validation. Of all the stuff that exists out there, they’re spending their money on something I’ve made. How about you with collectors?

C.S.: Sometimes it’s a little weird. I remember an early series of horizontal pictures that I called “The Centerfolds” (1981) — I thought they were kind of disturbing, but some collector said, “I have that one hanging over my bed because it’s so sexy.” And I’m thinking, “Ugh, I don’t want to know that.” But you can’t control what happens to a piece.

M.J.: Or what other people see in it. Feedback is part of the equation. It’s like, “I’m not just doing this for me. I need you.” — E.R.A.

Production: Prodn. Hair: Tsuki at Streeters. Makeup assistant: Nanase. Photo assistants: John Temones, Tony Jarum, Logan Khidekel

CARLOS NAZARIO, STYLIST, AND WILLY CHAVARRIA, FASHION DESIGNER Have worked together on three collections since 2022.

Willy Chavarria, wearing a black T-shirt and necklaces, stands and crosses his arms. Next to him sits Carlos Nazario, wearing a white T-shirt.

From left: Nazario, 36, and Chavarria, 56, photographed at Chavarria’s studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on March 18, 2024.

Emiliano Granado

WILLY CHAVARRIA: Carlos and I would see each other at Calvin Klein [Nazario has styled for the brand; Chavarria was its senior vice president of design from 2021 until 2023], but our first formal meeting was lunch at the Odeon. Like Truman Capote’s swans, we had salads and talked about water and weight loss.

CARLOS NAZARIO: It wasn’t like we were meeting to discuss a project. That sort of evolved organically.

W.C.: I was terrified to ask you to work with me. I remember texting to [see] if you’d style my [fall 2023] show. Do you know what you said? “I thought you’d never ask.”

C.N.: Willy’s work spoke to me in such a profound way. There was such a similarity — if not in aesthetic, definitely in intention. A lot of brands lack depth and a soul. I’m Afro-Latino. I grew up in New York with a certain relationship to how one presents themselves to the world, what glamour means and looks like and how it’s communicated. I was always intrigued by how Willy’s designs encompassed all those things.

W.C.: [The way we collaborate] is so natural and unpretentious. We end up telling a story that we feel good about.

C.N.: Every relationship between a stylist and designer is unique. Some designers require a lot more — from research to manufacturing and the show. Others want you to come in right at the end and say, “Let’s put that on this model.” With Willy, our conversations prior to my first day were conceptual. We talked about what he wanted it to feel like, rather than what he wanted it to look like.

W.C.: For that first show together, we wanted the cast — all people of color, many of them queer and trans — to feel elevated and empowered. Marlon [Taylor-Wiles, the show’s movement director] was going to have the models look down at the guests.

C.N.: At the rehearsal, we were like, “Maybe it’s a bit creepy.” I wasn’t uncomfortable [giving my opinion] because Willy’s such an easy person to talk to. But anytime you’re coming into a space where everyone has clearly defined roles, you feel like a stepparent. You’re a bit like, “Do I discipline the daughter? Do I tell her the skirt’s too short?” I didn’t want to overstep, but I also wanted to make my presence worth it. As we got more comfortable [with each other], we got more comfortable trying things.

W.C.: The next season, we took more risks. We wanted it to feel refined and elegant, but we also wanted to inject a youthfulness.

C.N.: At a lot of [brands], it’s like, “This season, everything’s a miniskirt. If your thighs aren’t great, see you in the fall!” Willy’s casting allows for a very broad vision in terms of what the styling can do: You’ll have someone like me, who’s 5-foot-4 [Nazario walked in the fall 2024 show], and then you’ll have someone who’s 6-foot-4.

W.C.: You’ll have a woman in her late 50s and a 17-year-old boy.

C.N.: Everyone from twinks to daddies. If you tried to dress everyone the same, it’d be a disaster.

W.C.: I can suggest something that you don’t like, and you’ll say, “Let’s go with it. Let’s see.” And I’ll do the same. I’ve worked with stylists who will deliberate over the positioning of a hat for hours. The stress level is so intense, it kills the moment. Having the freedom [to experiment reflects] a levity we want the brand to have. You know, we address serious subjects, like human rights, inclusion …

C.N.: Self-identity. But if we’re stressed, everyone’s stressed. We try to keep it light, but we also understand the weight of the responsibility. It’s rare that you work with people who understand what you’re feeling and what you want to convey. And I think our trust lies in that. — N.H.

Photo assistants: Eamon Colbert, Jordan Zuppa

MINK STOLE, ACTRESS, AND JOHN WATERS, FILMMAKER Have worked together on almost every one of his movies since “Roman Candles” (1967), including “Pink Flamingos” (1972), “Hairspray” (1988) and “A Dirty Shame” (2004).

Video by Melody Melamed

MINK STOLE: John, I’ve just been told your conference line is charging me a penny a minute.

JOHN WATERS: Oh, c’mon. I’ve been using it for 20 years. It’s never said that.

M.S.: It’s fine. I can handle it.

T: How did you two first meet?

J.W.: Mink also grew up in Baltimore, although I was friends with her older sister Mary, who now goes by Sique. My memory’s that we met in Provincetown, Mass., right before doing my second movie [the 1967 short] “Roman Candles” [in which Stole plays a party guest who gets spanked]. She was looking to go bad and found the right crowd. Prescott Townsend, one of the first gay radicals, allowed us to live in a tree fort he’d made.

M.S.: That was the summer I got introduced to homosexuality.

J.W.: Did we take acid that summer?

M.S.: I kind of think we did, yeah.

J.W.: And then we took it again 50 years later. My mother always used to say, “Don’t tell young people to take drugs.” But I’m not — I’m telling old people to. Anyway, we shot “Roman Candles” partly at my parents’ house and, oddly enough, a decade later, you filmed a big scene at that same house, in my parents’ bedroom, when you played [the delusional housewife] Peggy Gravel in “Desperate Living” [1977].

Mink Stole and John Waters, both wearing white shirts and dark gray jackets pose against a light gray background.

From left: Stole, 76, and Waters, 77, photographed, respectively, at Edge Studios in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles, on Feb. 4, 2024, and at Waters’s home in Tuscany-Canterbury, Baltimore, on March 7, 2024.

Melody Melamed

M.S.: We threw a baseball through a window and kind of trashed the place. Your mom was a sport.

J.W.: So was yours. Mink and I were arrested [along with three other members of the crew] for conspiracy to commit indecent exposure while making [the 1969 film] “Mondo Trasho.” It was in the paper. They printed your poor mother’s address.

M.S.: We were acquitted.

J.W.: We’d been filming a scene at Johns Hopkins University with [the actor and drag performer] Divine, in full makeup and a gold lamé top with matching toreador pants, in a 1959 red Cadillac convertible with the top down in November. I never asked permission [to shoot]. The police came and we all ran. The fact that we got caught and Divine escaped didn’t say a lot for the Baltimore police. Mink played an escaped mental patient; she did a nude tap dance.

M.S.: I’d get upset when the press would call us unprofessional because, although it was true that not one of us had ever taken an acting lesson, we were incredibly professional. And none of it was ad-libbed. John wouldn’t have tolerated that. He knew every comma, every “and,” every “but.”

J.W.: What’s that French term for people who go crazy when they’re together?

M.S.: “Folie à something”?

J.W.: “Folie à famille.” Everybody chipped in, and we just went for it.

T: Mink, were there any scenes you refused to shoot?

M.S.: Before we started filming “Pink Flamingos” [1972, in which Stole plays the proprietor of a black-market baby ring], John very casually said, “Will you set your hair on fire?” And I said, “Yes, that’ll look great on film.” But then as the moment approached, I panicked.

J.W.: I was on pot when I thought of that.

M.S.: It would’ve been great, except that I’d be bald today. I think that’s the only thing I ever refused to do.

T: What’ve you learned from each other?

M.S.: In the early films, we all acted largely. We spoke in italics. In the later ones, when I’d start to behave that way, John would say, “Take it down.” I was shocked [the first time he said it].

J.W.: When we made those early movies, I was influenced by the theater of the ridiculous — by cruelty, shouting and craziness. It wasn’t them overacting, it was me telling them to overact.

M.S.: I have enormous respect for John, and John for me. Aside from the fact that I love him dearly, I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t met him.

J.W.: And we’ve never had the same boyfriend.

M.S.: Or wanted the same boyfriend.

J.W.: Mink and I have been through a lot together. We’ve fought, we’ve made up. I don’t trust people who don’t have old friends. For me, they outlast family. Mink and I are even going to be buried together in the same graveyard. We call it Disgraceland. — N.H.

Waters: Makeup: Cheryl Pickles Kinion. Photo assistants: Daniel Garton, Ashley Poole

COBY KENNEDY AND HANK WILLIS THOMAS, ARTISTS Have spent three decades collaborating on public art installations and community-focused projects, including 2023’s “Reach,” a more than 2,700-pound fiberglass-and-resin sculpture at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport of two hands nearly touching.

Coby Kennedy and Hank Willis Thomas pose in front of a gray background.

From left: Kennedy, 47, and Thomas, 48, photographed at Thomas’s studio in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Feb. 28, 2024.

D’Angelo Lovell Williams

COBY KENNEDY: We met on a collaboration, actually. It was the summer of 1992.

HANK WILLIS THOMAS: I’d been recruited to work with Coby to renovate the darkroom at Howard University [in Washington, D.C.], where his father [Winston Kennedy] was the chair of the art program. We were in high school. Building a darkroom when you don’t really know how — that’s kind of the way we’ve always worked. Back then, Coby was a street writer.

C.K.: A graffiti writer, in the parlance of our times. My graffiti and school crews melded into this conglomerate [called] the Earthbound Homies.

H.W.T.: This was [during the] peak ’90s hip-hop days. The group was [made up of] all these young, primarily Black artists. I wasn’t one of them, I was a documenter.

C.K.: Hank was in museum studies, while the rest of us were in visual arts. He was very quiet and observant. It felt like he was always regarding you.

H.W.T.: The core of our relationship has been fostering opportunities for others to interlace their practices. The Wide Awakes [their most recent art collective, named after a progressive group that supported Abraham Lincoln during the 1860 presidential election] took off in my old studio in December 2019.

C.K.: We were trying to plug into society and see how we could influence it. When 2020 happened — the pandemic, the lockdown, the insurrection — we really hit the accelerator with it.

H.W.T.: I’d call the Wide Awakes our first public collaboration. But then again, 2016 is when “Reach” [their sculpture at Chicago’s O’Hare airport] first started. We’re excited to have it be one of the largest public acknowledgments of something we’ve been doing for 30 years.

C.K.: In our collaborations, we kind of fill in each other’s gaps.

H.W.T.: As a conceptual artist, I have great ideas — a lot of them. Coby, who has a history as an industrial designer and animator, is the bridge between the proposal and how it happens. With virtually every one of my public sculptures, he’s done all the initial concepting. He’s always had this ability to see what others are thinking. We also have different tastes.

C.K.: And they’re sometimes at odds with each other, which is one of the best parts [of our working relationship], because I’d hate for both of us to be middle ground.

H.W.T.: Coby has a very clear, singular vision, while I create art through consensus. I want to make a statement [so I’m often asking others], “What do you think about it?” I envy Coby’s talent. But I also think not having his talent gives me a reliance on other people, which is helpful in the context of making public art.

C.K.: I know that he’ll tell me the truth about anything I come up with, and he knows that if I have to talk trash about one of his ideas, I’ll talk trash about it.

H.W.T.: As much as I’d like Coby to think like me, then he wouldn’t be him and I wouldn’t be me. We allow each other to be who we are. — N.A.

INGAR DRAGSET AND MICHAEL ELMGREEN, ARTISTS Have worked as the duo Elmgreen & Dragset on more than 90 solo shows and site-specific installations, including a 2005 replica of a Prada store near Marfa, Texas, since 1995.

A portrait of Dragset and Elmgreen smiling and standing in front of a gray background. Dragset wears a black T-shirt and Elmgreen wears a black hoodie.

From left: Dragset, 54, and Elmgreen, 62, photographed at their studio in Neukölln, Berlin, on Feb. 7, 2024.

Julia Sellmann

INGAR DRAGSET: We met at After Dark, the only gay club at the time in Copenhagen, in 1994. I was 24 and Michael was 32. I thought he looked amazing — he had this Dennis Rodman-style hair that was bleached with baroque black patterns on it. We both had big Dr. Martens boots and were much grungier than the rest of the crowd.

MICHAEL ELMGREEN: The club was a classic disco — a lot of blown-out hair and Gloria Gaynor. It wasn’t difficult to spot each other.

I.D.: We got more than a little tipsy. When we both started to walk home, we realized that we lived not only in the same neighborhood but in the same building. That was the beginning of our 10-year romantic relationship. The artistic collaboration started eight months later, a little bit by accident. I was doing theater at the time.

M.E.: I was writing poetry and experimenting with texts that would morph in front of people’s eyes on IBM computers. To my surprise, I was considered a visual artist.

I.D.: Michael got invited to do an exhibition in Stockholm. He had the idea of creating abstract pets that people could cuddle, but he didn’t know how to make them. And I said, “Well, I’m good at knitting.” So that’s how the collaboration started.

M.E.: The Swedes are, as we know, a bit stiff; they were terrified about interacting with the artwork. So we were sitting in [opposite] corners with these knitted pets, cuddling them, and people thought it was a performance.

I.D.: That accidental performance inspired us to do more. The next one was a piece where I was furiously knitting at one end of a very long white cloth while Michael was unraveling everything from the other end. That should tell you a bit about our partnership.

M.E.: When we were coupled, we were almost the same size in clothes, so we even shared socks, we shared bank accounts, all our friends.

I.D.: We had one email account, one cellphone.

M.E.: Starting a new chapter after we split up was like meeting again, workwise. We had separate lives for some hours of the day. Suddenly, you could bring in exciting things that the other hadn’t experienced.

I.D.: It was a very difficult time. We put most things on hold, but we had one exhibition that would’ve been hard to cancel: a solo show at Tate Modern [in London]. In a big room with a window overlooking the Thames, we added another windowpane and, in between the panes, we had an animatronic but very realistic-looking sparrow that seemed to be gasping for life and flapping its wings, and nobody could help it.

M.E.: I think the beauty of it all was that we dared to stop being boyfriends because we knew we wouldn’t lose each other. Today, it’d be impossible to say who came up with what idea. It’s not two half authorships. It’s like this imaginary third persona in between us that we feed — an invisible genius kid who’s much, much younger, brighter and more charming than either of us. He’s creating the artworks. — J.H.

BOBBI SALVÖR MENUEZ, ACTOR, AND MICHAEL BAILEY-GATES, ARTIST Have collaborated on dozens of performances and photography projects throughout their decade-long friendship.

A portrait of Bobbi Salvör Menuez and Michael Bailey-Gates against a gray background.

From left: Menuez, 30, and Bailey-Gates, 30, photographed at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif., on Feb. 1, 2024.

BOBBI SALVÖR MENUEZ: I curated a 2014 show at [the Brooklyn exhibition space] Muddguts that was part of a series in which I invited people who didn’t always make performance work to create something in a performance context. We’d been in a group show together before and had mutual friends, and I was excited about the work I was seeing Michael make.

MICHAEL BAILEY-GATES: It was me, Bobbi and maybe two or three other people. I had this party trick of being able to talk really fast, like an auctioneer. When I said certain phrases, one of them would stand up, and another would scream at the top of their lungs or throw an object at someone.

B.S.M.: It felt like the beginning of us making things together on the fly. We both had this down-to-get-into-it energy that was well matched.

M.B.G.: We shared an urgency to make work come to life. Sometimes it’s as simple as being a body for another person. I’ve been the lead in Bobbi’s performances, and I’ve been in the background, lying on a floor covered in red paint. Performance art in New York at the time was about executing an idea without a lot of money. These days, I don’t go into a shoot thinking we’re performing, but it’s very much that: The camera is the audience looking back at us.

B.S.M.: Michael has this ability to see the kaleidoscopic possibility of someone’s self- expression. Around 2018, I was out as nonbinary to my close friends and finding my new name. I took a break from auditions and started working part-time as a substitute teacher. When a film I’d shot the year before got into [the 2019] Sundance [Film Festival], it was an invitation to step back into the spotlight. I’d shaved my head and was nervous about that formal, public coming- out moment. It just felt so cringe. I went to Los Angeles before going to Sundance and made some pictures with Michael that were only for us. Those were the first images of Bobbi that entered the world.

M.B.G.: I never want to make a picture of somebody that’s not reflective of them. I’ve chosen in my practice to always focus on a small group of friends, and those collaborations are the grounding force of my work. Without them, what would my pictures be? They’d be something less precious. — C.R.

Makeup: Zenia Jaeger at Streeters using Submission Beauty. Hair assistant: Drew Martin. Production: Resin Projects. Photo assistants: Michael Preman, Jack Buster

Humberto Leon, restaurateur and creative director

Humberto Leon rests his cheek on his hand and leans his elbow on a countertop. He is wearing a black jacket with white stripes and a white shirt.

Leon, 48, photographed at his restaurant Chifa in Los Angeles on Dec. 14, 2023.

Ryan James Caruthers

Then: The co-founder, with Carol Lim, of Opening Ceremony, the influential New York clothing store established in 2002; the co-creative director of the French fashion house Kenzo between 2011 and 2019.

Now: Co-runs three restaurants in Los Angeles — Chifa, Monarch and Arroz & Fun.

In 1975, the year I was born, my mom opened a restaurant in Lima — my mom’s from Hong Kong, my dad from Peru — and so I’ve always thought of a meal as a way to learn and to meet new people. In 2020, I’d recently quit Kenzo and sold Opening Ceremony. My sisters and brother-in-law were in the midst of changes of their own, and we’d always wanted to tell my mom’s story. So we decided to open a restaurant together in Eagle Rock, the Los Angeles neighborhood where my family first lived when we immigrated to the United States in the late ’70s. We named it Chifa, after my mom’s place in Lima, and based the menu on a similar mix of classic Peruvian dishes like lomo saltado (beef stir fry) and anticucho (meat skewers) and Chinese home cooking — though my brother-in-law, the chef John Liu, has added some of his Taiwanese family’s culinary staples, too.

Starting anything new is scary, and I didn’t have the confidence to do so until the pandemic, which gave me time to try new ideas. (I also wrote a screenplay and a script for a TV show.) I tried to channel the intuition [I’d brought to Opening Ceremony] into other fields. I realized that what I’d done with the store was ultimately about the fond memories people had of the place rather than any specific product. Food does something similar: It creates conversations and memories.

I had the same feeling when I opened the store: “Will anyone show up?” We’d built Opening Ceremony from the ground up — no ads, only word of mouth — and that experience lent itself to launching Chifa, as well as Monarch and Arroz & Fun [our second and third restaurants, which opened last year in the Arcadia and Lincoln Heights neighborhoods, respectively]. In many ways, I’m bringing the same sensibility to the restaurants that I brought to Opening Ceremony: They’re places where you can discover new things. We aren’t aiming for formality or perfection. If anything, part of the experience is dropping your fork and noticing the cool terrazzo floor or really looking at the flatware, which we made with the designer Izabel Lam. As a person who shops and eats a lot, I want to be excited, to feel that nervousness of trying something new. — M.S.

Nick Cave, musician, writer and artist

Nick Cave, wearing a shirt, tie and white jacket and sitting in a pink room in front of a tall mirror, holds a paint brush above a porcelain figure. In front of him, on the table, are paint palates, a bowl of fruit and various sculptures.

Cave, 66, photographed at his studio near his home in Brighton, England, on Jan. 29, 2024.

Then: Rose to prominence with his post-punk band the Bad Seeds, formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1983; became one of rock’s most celebrated lyricists and performers.

Now: Makes ceramics at a studio close to his home on the south coast of England, and his first major solo show, “ The Devil — A Life ,” is on view now through May 11 at Xavier Hufkens gallery in Brussels. Will release a new record with the Bad Seeds later this year.

I learned early on that the grand designs you have in life don’t always pan out. Starting in secondary school, I wanted to be a painter. I went to art school [for university in 1976] and, to my horror, failed my second year. At the same time, my first band [the Boys Next Door, which eventually became the Birthday Party] was starting to do well in the underground scene in Melbourne. I was much more interested in painting — I did figurative work that often referenced myself — but I’d failed, so I carried on with the band.

I started making ceramics during the pandemic. I collect Victorian Staffordshire-style figurines, the sort of thing an English grandmother might have on her mantelpiece, and one day I thought, “I could make these.” I found I was really swept up by clay. I struggle hugely with writing songs — not the music, but the lyrics. They never feel good enough. Mostly it’s all doubt and despair. But I don’t think I’ve felt more pleasure than I have when pulling a piece out of the kiln and looking at something I’ve made with my hands.

At some point, I had an idea to make a devil, mostly because I wanted to paint a figure in a fiery red glaze. I made one devil and then others, and eventually they began to tell a story. In the beginning, there’s a sort of lightheartedness about this wicked little guy: In his youth, he’s embedded in the world and in love with it. But then he kills his child, and [the figures] get dark and desperate. Later, he becomes remorseful and dies a terrible death. And in the end he’s forgiven by his child.

The death of a child is obviously very important to me because two of my own children have died. [Cave’s son Arthur died in 2015 at age 15. His oldest son, Jethro, died in 2022 at age 31.] And the works were saying something very powerful to me about my unfolding situation in life, something that my songs didn’t really talk about. I found that I could look at this poor devil in a pool of tears, with his lost child extending his hand to him, as a kind of meditation on my own place in the world and find a way that I — or we or whoever — may live a life. — M.H.M.

Jordi Roca, pastry chef

In an ice cream shop with blue walls and pipes painted red and white, Jordi Roca leans on a glass countertop covering various tubs of ice cream and toppings.

Roca, 45, photographed at Rocambolesc Gelateria in Girona, Spain, on March 13, 2024.

Anna Bosch Miralpeix

Then: Joined the restaurant El Celler de Can Roca — founded in 1986 by his brothers, Joan and Josep, in Girona, Spain — in 1997, becoming head pastry chef in 2000.

Now: After starting his own gelateria chain, Rocambolesc, in Girona with his wife, Alejandra Rivas, in 2012, and being diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder four years later, opened an outpost of the gelateria in Houston in 2022 with a neurodiverse team.

When I first started to lose my voice, it didn’t have much of an effect on my creative process in the kitchen. I had to learn to interact more through gesture, but I could still speak during quieter moments. That was around 2016, when I was giving a lot of interviews. It was a period in my career when I needed to speak but, instead, was a time of introspection. Once I got the diagnosis — I have an unusual expression of spasmodic dysphonia [a neurological disorder that causes spasms in the voice box] — it meant I could finally move forward. Now I think of this as just part of who I am.

The idea to open a U.S. branch of Rocambolesc, the gelateria, which has five locations in Spain, came a year or so before this. In 2015, when we were [hosting] cooking events around the world for Celler de Can Roca, we met our business partner Ignacio Torres in Houston. He has family members with autism, and having a place that would hire people with autism and Down syndrome was part of his idea from the beginning. By the time we opened Rocambolesc in Houston in 2022, we’d already had experiences in Celler de Can Roca with team members who had neurological differences. But staffing a project with a neurodiverse team was a huge personal gamble taken by Ignacio and his wife, Isabel, to transform the stigmas around neurodivergence in the United States. The project’s really been embraced in Houston. We have staff who’ve been with us right from the beginning. Of course, my own difficulties have given me a deeper empathy with people who can’t always express themselves in the way they might like. But what I’ve learned — especially through this project — is that we all live in the same world. There’re just many ways to see it. — M.S.

Cassi Namoda, painter

Cassi Namoda leans back on a step ladder with one arm over a large painting of a woman with green outlines on an orange background. Around her, in a large space with a brick roof and plenty of pillars, various paintings are displayed.

Namoda, 35, photographed with paintings in progress at her studio in Biella, Italy, on Feb. 25, 2024.

Claudia Gori

Then: A visual artist known for her spare yet color-rich depictions of contemporary African people and landscapes who was last based in the Berkshires region of Massachusetts.

Now: Living in Biella, in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, where she’s working in a new studio and preparing to become a mother.

Biella has a beautiful, fantastical landscape — you have a backdrop of the snowcapped Alps, but there are also palm trees, beeches, pines and cypresses. It’s an easier flight to my family in Mozambique [than from the United States]. And we’re a 10-minute drive away from my husband’s family.

I found an incredible studio where I can visualize having my child and making magnificent work. The commercial art world is a masculine environment. But this is my own world. There’s a large kitchen with big windows and an amazing chef’s oven, so there can be lunches. I’ll put in a daybed because I know I need naps. There’ll be a baby corner, with a crib and maybe some safe paints. I’m really into self-preservation and embracing femininity.

My life before was very utilitarian. Some days, I’d get to the studio early and be there until 3 or 4 a.m., eating popcorn and puffing on a cigarette. The child has already forced me to have a healthier balance with work. But I have these dreams about me before [there was] this new spirit in me. It’s not a somber or sad thing, like, “Oh, I wish I was Cassi in Tambacounda, Senegal, plein-air painting in the field.” But I’m remembering that person.

I finally got into the Italian health care system, which has been a nightmare. It’s not superfriendly to foreigners. Meanwhile, I’m preparing for a solo exhibition in September and a museum show opening in December. In my head I’m like, “The baby’s coming really soon, I don’t really have a doctor, I’m still setting up my studio and I have a 53-foot-long cargo container with all of my belongings arriving on Monday!”

There are large works to start but, with this heavy belly, I can’t balance on a ladder. I might bring the canvases down to the floor and rest them on bricks. I’m visiting a softer, more romantic side. The world’s in a dark place; why not make something beautiful? I’m seeing flamingo pink and yellow and sandy tones. It’s soft and rosy. I don’t think it’s because I’m having a girl — the sex of the baby is a surprise — but that’s how I’m feeling right now. — E.L.

Jon Bon Jovi, musician and singer-songwriter

Bon Jovi, with gray hair pushed to one side, wears a leather jacket and leans his elbows on a wooden table and looks into the camera.

Bon Jovi, 62, photographed at his restaurant JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, N.J., on March 1, 2024.

Sebastian Sabal-Bruce

Then: Co-founded the rock band Bon Jovi in Sayreville, N.J., in 1983. Began experiencing vocal difficulties in 2014.

Now: Is recovering from throat surgery, a process depicted, among other things, in the docuseries “Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story,” out this month. Will release a new album, “Forever,” with the band in June.

My problems started about a decade ago. In 2013, we had the number one tour in the world, and I was great for 100-plus shows. But in 2014, I wasn’t really making any music, which was hard psychologically. Then some of the recordings and shows we did, especially after 2017, were challenging — my range seemed to have narrowed and it was becoming difficult to sing consistently. But none of the professionals I saw could figure it out.

In March 2022, a doctor in Philadelphia explained that one of my vocal cords was atrophying. I thought I could get my voice back in shape if I just did enough shows, so I went back on the road. But it was a struggle. Finally, that June, I had an implant put [inside the cartilage of my larynx] to bring my [vocal folds] together. There was no singing at all for the first six weeks. Then I started speech therapy. I have rehab four times a week. But I’m still not sure what to expect. Yesterday when I was rehearsing with the band, I had a rough go with the song “Limitless” from the album “2020” [released by the group that same year]. I said, “Guys, I only ever sang this song when I was broken. I don’t know how to sing it not broken.” If I had the word “lay,” I’d put an “E” on the end of it to try to push it up to pitch: “layeee.” But right after that, I popped the high notes on [our 1986 hit] “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

This new album’s much more of a collaborative record than the ones I’ve made in the past. It’s a celebration of my accepting any and all input and acts of kindness. It’s not been a good decade. It’s not been easy to not be the best guy in the band; it’s not easy to be the worst. It’s humbling but I don’t mind the humility. I just want my tools back. Yesterday, I pressed the point-of-no-return button and said yes, in theory, to a handful of possible shows abroad for the summer, the first ones since the spring of 2022. I’m not an applause junkie. I do it because I love to write a song and play it for people. If I have all my tools, it’ll be a joy. — E.L.

Grooming: Loraine Abeles

Titus Kaphar, artist

Titus Kaphar sits on an office chair in a gallery space with three large paintings of the exteriors of houses hanging on the walls.

Kaphar, 47, photographed at his studio in New Haven, Conn., on Feb. 22, 2024.

Artwork, from left: Titus Kaphar, “I Knew,” 2023 © Titus Kaphar; Titus Kaphar, “Do You Want It Back?” 2023 © Titus Kaphar; Titus Kaphar, “Some Things Can’t Be Worked Out on Canvas,” 2023 © Titus Kaphar

Then: An artist whose works, which often confront family history and the experience of being Black in America, are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, among other institutions.

Now: Wrote and directed his first feature-length film, “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” which premiered at Sundance in January. Paintings Kaphar made for the film (pictured above) will be shown at Gagosian in Beverly Hills in September.

“Exhibiting Forgiveness” started as a series of paintings — in particular, with one of a burning lawn mower. It didn’t take long to realize that what I was doing wasn’t best processed with paintings alone. [The film focuses on a successful artist, Tarrell, played by André Holland, who struggles to deal with the reappearance of his estranged, abusive father, La’Ron, played by John Earl Jelks, who’d force Tarrell to perform grueling manual labor as a child.] The power of painting’s often the absences: what’s not there, what’s implicit. You don’t know what happened before and you don’t know what will happen after. In film, you have an opportunity for elaboration.

I’ve tried hard not to read reviews of the film, though a friend sent me one. It was positive but what [the critic] wrote at the end, I’ll never forget. He said, “But I can’t say this film is entertaining.” [ Laughs. ] With film, some of us expect entertainment, to have a great time. And that response does frame the way we distinguish film from painting. As a painter, I don’t stand in front of [Pablo Picasso’s] “Guernica” and go, “This isn’t entertaining!” I didn’t approach filmmaking as anything different from painting. I wanted the film to be a painting in motion. The way I make decisions in the studio, about how to follow my intuition or instincts, or how to lay out a composition, was the same process I used on set. The difference is I had an extraordinary cinematographer and cast of actors to help me realize the paintings in my head.

At its essence, “Exhibiting Forgiveness” is about generational healing. I took on this project because I wanted to have a conversation with my children about the world I grew up in, which is so different from the world they’ve grown up in. And I think making the film helped resolve something within me. The revelation I had is that I can’t make my father out as the villain in my mind. He’s a victim of violence himself. And even though [he] created challenges for me, I’ve never wondered whether or not he loved me. — M.H.M.

Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, artist

Bárbara Sánchez-Kane wearing a double-breasted black jacket stands in a doorway.

Sánchez-Kane, 36, photographed at his studio (the artist uses she/her and he/him pronouns interchangeably) in Mexico City on Jan. 22, 2024.

Ana Topoleanu. Artwork, clockwise from left: Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, “La Diegada,” 2016, courtesy of the artist and Estudio Sánchez-Kane; Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, “Tragic Stages,” 2023, courtesy of the artist and Estudio Sánchez-Kane; Bárbara Sánchez-Kane, “Moctezuma’s Revenge,” 2017, performance by Sierva M, courtesy of the artist and Estudio Sánchez-Kane, photo: Karla Ximena

Then: The designer of Sánchez-Kane, the genderless clothing brand she founded in Mérida, Mexico, in 2016.

Now: An artist working with painting, sculpture and performance — while still running the label.

One of my first shows in a museum was at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2017. The curators invited me to present a collection from my fashion line that I’d shown in New York, and I said, “No, but maybe I can do a performance.” There’s a kind of freedom in making wearable sculptures because, in the end, clothing has to be ergonomic: The jacket I made with boxing gloves has an opening for your hands so you can eat a burger. But for the ICA show, I created a pair of transparent plastic pants with a metal frame that made them almost impossible to walk in. And last year, for my first New York solo exhibition, at Kurimanzutto gallery, I made a piece from 1,170 black plastic belts that was so big and heavy, I had to break it into parts to show it. I remember reading an article by the queer theorist Jack Halberstam on the work of the artist Gordon Matta-Clark, who would [create] windows in structures where they shouldn’t be. For me, the work is like that: opening windows that give you a different way of seeing what’s in front of you.

I started as an industrial engineer first and then became a fashion designer, but I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t matter what you’ve studied or haven’t. When I feel like the worst sculptor, I think, “Well, at least I’m a good designer.” And when I feel like a great sculptor, I might look at [the clothes in my studio] and think, “Those terrible [expletive] trousers!” Expanding into other fields is a way to embrace yourself. All we have is our imagination, which allows us to create things: objects, garments, skins that we wear when we go out into the world. I’m not saying they’ll save us, but maybe they can help us navigate the transition to another universe. — M.S.

Miguel Adrover, 58, Calonge, Majorca

A black-and-white portrait of Miguel Adrover with a feather in his hair wearing a black suit jacket.

The former fashion designer Miguel Adrover, now a full-time photographer, photographed at home on Majorca, Spain, on Jan. 8, 2024.

The provocative Spanish fashion designer, who had a New York-based clothing line, put a sheep on the runway and made a coat out of the ticking from the gay icon Quentin Crisp’s discarded mattress. He left the industry over a decade ago.

I started my own line in 1999 in New York, where I had been living in the East Village since 1991, and shut it down in 2005 and left the city. In 2012, I [returned] to present one runway show, which I called Out of My Mind. It was made up of personal garments I’d repurposed. I was 46.

I’d been trying to find a way out of this unsustainable industry, this imaginary fantasy that fashion creates. My collections dealt with social justice, environmental consciousness and diversity before those topics became mainstream, and some seasons I didn’t sell anything. I never had a sugar daddy, and I invested everything I made back into the company.

I miss New York a lot. I’m homesick for it, but it isn’t the same city, and fashion is very different, too — it feels inauthentic and disconnected from reality. When I was doing consulting and research for Alexander McQueen [in the mid-90s], we had no money. But the energy was amazing. When you don’t have money, that’s when you’re most creative. Now all of these big companies have so much money that it feels like a different world. [Still] I’d love to have the chance to put on one last presentation, one last show to express how I feel today and how I see the world right now.

When I left New York, I decided to come to Majorca, where my parents have a farm. I started doing photography accidentally; I had no knowledge of cameras, every day was a process of me learning something totally on my own. There was a 300-year-old well on the property with no water inside, and I realized it could be my studio. It’s kind of like a basement; light comes from a little window high above. It reminds me of my apartment in New York. It’s where I develop my [projects]. I use things that surround me: tulips and rose bushes, fruit trees, a tropical garden, chickens.

When I got here, I didn’t have a team [as I did in fashion], and one of the challenges was being surrounded by people who don’t care about what I did or what I’m doing. Photography was the ideal thing to do because I don’t need anybody, I can do it on my own. I don’t have any models; I started working with mannequins and, for many years, I collected them on eBay or from secondhand stores on the island. [I decided] I’d rather not use models — when you photograph human beings, they’re pretending or acting, and I was running away from that.

It’s been nine years since I found photography, and I’m really happy. I have a monograph coming out later this year. The photographs are like my biography. I’ve developed my style in photography and I have a creative language. Fashion was the platform I once used, but the soul inside me is the same. — interview by J.W.

Ralph Ellison, writer, circa 1913-94

Ralph Ellison sits in front of an a typewriter under an awning writing.

Ralph Ellison, the author of the 1952 novel “Invisible Man,” in June 1957 during his fellowship at the American Academy in Rome.

James Whitmore/The Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ralph Ellison spent seven years writing his only completed novel, “Invisible Man,” and its publication in 1952, when he was in his late 30s, not only catapulted him to literary fame but made him nothing less than a spokesperson for postwar America. His contemporary Norman Mailer would write of him that at his best, “He writes so perfectly that one can never forget the experience of reading him.” “Invisible Man,” a surreal picaresque that follows an unnamed Black protagonist — “a man of substance, of flesh and bone,” Ellison writes — as he travels through a country full of people who “refuse to see me,” is a book of such remarkable confidence that Ellison’s career, in later years, became mired in questions of what next? Ellison, a prolific writer of essays, reviews and criticism, worked for years on a follow-up, suffering one setback when a 1967 house fire destroyed portions of his manuscript. When he died in 1994, he left behind thousands of pages of drafts, fragments and unfinished tangents. Ellison’s literary executor and longtime friend, John F. Callahan, tried to edit the material down into a “single, coherent narrative,” as he put it, and published the result, called “Juneteenth,” in 1999; the New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani called it “disappointingly provisional and incomplete.” Ellison often struggled with writing. He once likened his second novel to a “bad case of constipation” and, in a 1958 letter to his friend the author Saul Bellow, Ellison wrote, “I’ve got a natural writer’s block as big as the Ritz and as stubborn as a grease spot on a gabardine suit.” — M.H.M.

Charles Laughton, actor and director, 1899-1962

Charles Laughton sits in a director's chair wearing a straw hat with a girl looking through a viewfinder in his lap.

The actor turned director Charles Laughton with the actress Sally Jane Bruce on the set of “The Night of the Hunter” (1955).

Everett Collection

Born in the last year of the 19th century, Charles Laughton left his family’s successful hotel business at the age of 26 to study acting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. What he lacked in movie star looks — the critic J. Hoberman described him as “coarse-featured, overweight and slovenly” — he made up for in talent. Following a successful stage career in London’s West End, he turned to film, making a name for himself as a versatile character actor in the 1930s and ’40s. In 1955, at the age of 55, he made his most indelible contribution to his craft, directing “The Night of the Hunter,” a film noir so dark it easily passes today as horror. (William Friedkin, the director of 1973’s “The Exorcist,” described it as “one of the scariest films ever made.”) Robert Mitchum plays a terrifying ex-convict posing as a preacher and stalking the children of his former cellmate in order to find a hidden fortune. While casting Lillian Gish in the role of the children’s caretaker, Laughton told the actress about his disappointment in audiences’ lack of attention for movies, how they “slump down with their heads back, or eat candy and popcorn. I want them to sit up straight again,” he said. Though now often ranked among the greatest American movies, “The Night of the Hunter” — released just a few years before Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960) made the psychological thriller into a marketable genre — was a commercial flop. Reviews were mixed; The New York Times’s Bosley Crowther called it “a weird and intriguing endeavor.” Years later, Terry Sanders, a second-unit director of the film, wrote that “the rejection by critics and the indifference of audiences hit [Laughton] hard and crushed his spirit. It wasn’t just disappointment he felt, it was utter and deeply debilitating devastation.” He never directed a second movie. — M.H.M.

Willis Alan Ramsey, 73, Loveland, Colo.

Willis Alan Ramsey stands with his hands behind his back wearing a cowboy hat.

The singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey, photographed at Sam’s Town Point bar in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2024.

Caleb Santiago Alvarado

The singer-songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey, originally from Alabama, released his self-titled debut album in 1972, becoming a forebear of the alt-country genre. Jimmy Buffett and Lyle Lovett became devoted fans. More than 50 years later, Ramsey still hasn’t completed his second album.

I started trying to write songs around 1968. My first song was just awful, but I got better over time. I dropped out of college twice, the second time in 1970, from the University of Texas [at Austin], after discovering a folk club where I became an opening act for $5 a night. Those were golden, halcyon days in Austin filled with sunshine and margaritas and very little traffic. That fall, I left to begin performing at colleges around the country. I was briefly back in Austin to play at U.T. and, somehow, during two days there, I’d managed to play for Gregg Allman and Leon Russell, two of the most influential musicians of that decade. They both gave me their cards and said to look them up if I ever made it their way. [I went to Los Angeles] and recorded a demo at Skyhill, Leon’s personal home studio, and he basically offered me the moon to sign with his new label, Shelter Records [which folded in 1981]. I’d just turned 20. Over the next year, I recorded my first and only album to ever be released [“Willis Alan Ramsey,” often known as the Green Album for its green cover].

I finished the record when I was 21. I was just a kid. Leon gave me my career, to the extent that I’ve had one [but the reason I never released another record was also] Leon’s fault. He told me that if I signed with Shelter, he’d show me the studio and how it worked, and he did. I immediately wanted to learn everything I could about the recording process. I used seven studios and three rhythm sections [to make the record]. I was given carte blanche. The budget was 85 grand. I could do it for 200 grand [now], but I can’t do it any cheaper. I’d need to rehearse every musician. And my songs are all over the place. I get bored doing one particular style.

I’m the most frustrated recording artist you’ve probably ever met in your life. But I still feel I’ll figure something out. I’ve always been optimistic. I’ve got at least three more records of material. I’m pretty tough on myself in terms of writing, and I’m very attached to what I’ve written. I just haven’t been able to get a deal that’d work for me. I mean, the world works, you know? I think the key is just to work with the world. — interview by M.H.M.

Photo assistant: Sergio Flores

Harper Lee, writer, 1926-2016

A portrait of Harper Lee sitting on a rocking chair on a porch smoking a cigarette.

The writer Harper Lee in her hometown, Monroeville, Ala., in 1961, the same year that her debut novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” won the Pulitzer Prize.

Donald Uhrbrock/Getty Images

“I sort of hoped someone would like it well enough to give me encouragement,” Harper Lee said in a 1964 radio interview, describing her low expectations for her 1960 debut, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Instead, her novel, about a lawyer in the fictional town of Maycomb, Ala. (a stand-in for the writer’s hometown, Monroeville), who defends a Black man from a false accusation of rape by a white woman, became one of the biggest literary sensations of its era. Lee, who worked as an airline reservations agent in New York for a few years before quitting (with friends’ financial support) to work on her writing, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961; two years later, a film adaptation starring Gregory Peck won three Academy Awards. “To Kill a Mockingbird” would go on to sell tens of millions of copies and become a fixture of high school English classes.

Lee had a hard time with her sudden fame. After that radio interview in 1964, she mostly avoided the press and, as the years and decades passed without a second novel, Lee continued to guard her privacy, albeit regularly attending the Methodist Church in Monroeville and occasionally visiting the local high school during lessons about her work. The year before she died at age 89 in 2016, a previously unknown novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” which had been written before “To Kill a Mockingbird,” appeared to tepid reviews and claims that Lee, by then largely deaf and blind following a stroke, had been manipulated into releasing subpar work. Controversy aside, even just the announcement of a lost novel reignited interest in Lee’s lone masterpiece; at that point, sales of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in trade paperback nearly tripled. — M.H.M.

Luc Tuymans, 65, visual artist

A drawing of a van driving down the street as two people in aprons collect trash cans.

Luc Tuymans, “Mijn Grote Vakantie” (1967).

Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner. Photo: Alex Salinas

When I was 7 or 8, we had to make drawings for school about our summer holidays. I was completely intrigued by the people gathering the garbage outside of our house in Antwerp [Belgium] — their truck, their dress code. During a summer day, I took out my colored pencils. I wrote underneath the drawing, “My Big Vacation.”

It came across as fairly cynical: My big vacation was garbage. It wasn’t meant that way. I really was intrigued by this operation. [Looking at it now] I’m amazed that there’s this perspective already in it. The teacher didn’t believe I made the drawing and took me by the ear to the blackboard to do it again in front of the class.

I’d been bullied a lot as a kid. I was extremely shy. Drawing was a way out, in a sense. I’d draw people who came to visit my parents and, at the end of the year, when exams were done, I’d make drawings for the whole class — whatever they wanted. I always had a ballpoint pen and a piece of paper with me, and people would gather around me while I was drawing, sometimes 20 to 30 of them. The kids were happy to have a drawing, but it didn’t really change the bullying pattern.

I saved most of my [childhood] drawings and gave them to my nephew. Unluckily, he lost them. This is virtually the only one that survived, and I gave it to my wife as a present.

It’s quite interesting to see the size of things — the difference between the houses and the people — and most of all, the idea of space that was already in the drawing. [If I were to redraw this today] it’d be a bit more meticulous, more worked out. But it’s an indication of things that would come later. My skepticism is embedded in this drawing without my doing that consciously — this quite specific, sardonic sense of humor. When I found it again, I had to laugh very, very hard. — J.H.

Do Ho Suh, 62, visual artist

Do Ho Suh, “Tiger Mask” (1971).

This drawing is based on a Japanese anime character, Tiger Mask, that was really popular in the ’70s. Back in those days, Korean TV broadcast Japanese anime in black and white. Everybody at school watched. The character is a pro wrestler who puts on a tiger mask to disguise his identity. I drew the mask directly from the anime. I was probably 9.

Once my friends saw it, they all wanted one. Demand for tiger masks became much greater than supply. Some of the rich kids wanted to trade their Japanese pencils — which had graphics or custom characters on the surface — and colorful erasers for a drawing. My parents couldn’t afford those things, and they weren’t available in Korea. The kids’ parents must have traveled to Japan, which was quite rare back then, and brought them back. [Eventually] I had a box full of those pencils, but I didn’t have the guts to actually use them. The pencils are untouched; the erasers are dried out. For some reason, my mom kept them all these years. — J.H.

Niki Nakayama, 49, chef and Restaurant owner

Tonkatsu is a Japanese home-style staple. It’s a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet — “ton” means “pork” and “katsu” is a sort of translation of “cutlet” — and it was my absolute favorite food when I was a kid. When my mom made tonkatsu, she’d have my sister and me do the breading, and we really bonded over that. It helped me understand family. We’d set up in the dining room and dredge the cutlets in flour, dip them into the egg wash, cover them with dried breadcrumbs and stack them high on paper plates that we’d bring in to my mother to fry up. Our kitchen had high countertops, and I can remember her standing at the stove in these three-inch platform clogs she’d wear to be a little taller.

I loved seeing how something became something else — it felt like unraveling magic. One day when I was about 9, I came home from school and got the brilliant idea to make my own [but with chicken]. I grabbed some drumsticks from the freezer, did the breading and, while standing on a stool, dipped them in hot oil. (I never admitted this to my mom.) When they turned the color they were supposed to, I was so proud. I bit into one and it was still frozen. That was my first shock of “I can’t believe I didn’t make [this thing] the way I imagined it would be.”

Anytime I was in Japan, especially in my 20s, my friends there would ask what subarashii gochiso, or “the best thing one could possibly eat,” was for me. I’d say tonkatsu, and they’d be like, “What?!,” because it’s such a simple dish — it was like asking for a sandwich. It isn’t the sort of thing I specialize in at my restaurant [N/Naka in Los Angeles], and I don’t have it often anymore because, as I age, I’m trying to eat lighter, but I still associate it with deliciousness and with happiness. Ever since childhood, I’ve thought of food as being about coming together and cooking as an expression of care and love. Having been on the receiving end of that, I do the work that I do to try to make people happy. — K.G.

Marina Abramović, 77, performance artist

A painting of two vehicles crashing into each other.

Marina Abramović, “Truck Accident (I)” (1963).

When I was a teenager in Communist Yugoslavia, there were these ugly green trucks that weighed so much, they often fell over. I started taking photographs of them and trying to paint them at home. But that wasn’t enough for me, so I bought some toy cars and left them on the highway to see if the real trucks would smash them; they were always untouched. I was fascinated by car crashes. Then when I was 17 or 18 years old, I painted the big car smashed and the little car protected — the idea that innocence survives everything.

My mother studied art history, and I was always going to museums. When I was a baby, my first words weren’t “mama” or “papa”; they were “El Greco.” I had my first exhibition at a youth center when I was 14. They mostly had group shows, but I made so much work that I had my own show. I always say I was jealous of Mozart because he started at 5.

I didn’t know then that painting wasn’t my ultimate goal. It takes a long time to realize who you are. I remember the incredible joy of going into my studio — an extra space in my family’s apartment — with my little cup of Turkish coffee. I would be so much in the dream of painting that I’d accidentally drink turpentine instead of the coffee.

Though I wasn’t aware of it [until recently], this crash represents the energy that I’d create in my early performances: two bodies running toward each other, crashing into each other and making this blurry image. My research today is about the body and how to create a field in which you aren’t afraid of pain, of dying, of limits. When you’re young, you don’t see the straight line but, [looking back] it all seems so logical. — J.H.

Deborah Roberts, 61, visual artist

A drawing of a boy resting his chin on his knee.

Deborah Roberts, “James” (1982).

Courtesy of the artist

I used to do a lot of drawings of people at church or kids in the neighborhood. I made this when I was 19, of this boy who came by to play with my brothers. My mother threw most of my drawings away. She had eight children; she couldn’t have all that stuff piling up.

[With that many siblings] you only get attention when you’re sick. But I got a lot of attention for drawing. I was the best artist in my school. The teacher would ask me, “What grade would you want?” I’d say, “I want an A+.” I had a big head. Then I went to the gifted and talented program with high school art students from all over Austin, Texas. I wasn’t the best anymore, but it just made me work harder. That’s where I was first introduced to the work of Henry Ossawa Tanner [one of the first African American painters to achieve international fame, in the early 20th century]. I didn’t even know there were Black artists. We didn’t have the internet or access to museums. We were poor.

I’d ride a small yellow bus to a community college to meet in a special room for the three-hour art class. Eventually, I became the best student in that class, at least in my head. They didn’t ask me what grade I wanted, but I still got an A.

If I were doing it now, I’d blend that hair into the wood better. I wouldn’t have light sources coming from two different areas. But if you look at my collages today, my whole idea’s about seeing people as humans, as children, as vulnerable. I think this is a very vulnerable piece. — J.H.

David Henry Hwang, 66, playwright

David Henry Hwang, manuscript of “Only Three Generations” (1968).

Courtesy of David Henry Hwang. Photo: Lance Brewer

I was about 10 years old, and my maternal grandmother got sick and it looked like she might be close to the end. I remember feeling that that’d be quite tragic — not only would I lose my grandmother but she also happened to be the family historian. I was one of those kids who, for whatever reason, was always really interested in hearing about family history.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but my mom grew up in the Philippines, where my maternal grandparents still lived, so I asked my parents if I could spend a summer there. I went and collected what we’d now call oral histories from my grandmother on cassette tapes, then came back and compiled them into a 60-page family history, “Only Three Generations,” which was [photocopied] and distributed to my family members. Then in the early aughts, someone — my uncle, I think — went and printed two or three dozen copies as a bound version.

I wasn’t someone who felt [that] writing was my calling. I didn’t do another major writing project until I got to college and started writing plays, so I find it interesting that the one time I took on [something] like this was to contextualize myself in a historical framework. That’s consistent with what I’ve done as an adult: sometimes being at sea about who I am and looking at history to gain a sense of self.

The [history] starts with my great-great-grandfather, then the second [part]’s about my great-grandfather and then the third section’s about my grandmother’s generation. I [used] their real names. I think I was trying to be fairly accurate, as opposed to when it later became the basis of my [1996] play “Golden Child.” There’s a lot more liberty taken there. When we did the play on Broadway, my grandmother was still alive and came to see the show. She was supportive of it, but I feel like she liked this version better. — J.A.R.

Ice Spice, wearing a black dress and heels, leans back in a beanbag chair.

Ice Spice wears a Balenciaga jacket, $2,150, balenciaga.com; Norma Kamali dress, $350, normakamali.com; Graff cross necklace, $14,000, graff.com; Alexander McQueen shoes, $1,150, alexandermcqueen.com; stylist’s own tights; and her own jewelry. Photographed at a private home in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2024.

Photograph by Shikeith. Styled by Ian Bradley

Name: Ice Spice Profession: Rapper Age: 24

Debuting in: Her first full-length album, “Y2K,” titled after her birth date — Jan. 1, 2000 — which comes out this year.

What she’s excited about: “Going on tour. I can’t wait to see my fans up close and personal and really interact with them — interacting with fans online can be a little overwhelming. All their profile pictures are of me. It feels like a bunch of me’s talking back: It’s weird. Especially when it’s pictures I’ve never seen or don’t remember.”

What she’s nervous about: “I don’t even want to put out that energy. People don’t need to know what I’m nervous about.”

How she works in the studio: “If I was already dressed up and cute, that’d produce a different vibe — but for the most part I like to be really comfortable. I need inspiration around me, too, so I’ll have stacks of money sitting next to the mic. Or I have a bunch of stickers of, like, boobs and butts, stuff like that. They’re drawings, though — I don’t just have porn in my studio.”

How it’s gotten easier since making her EP: “When I was working on [2023’s] ‘Like ..?,’ I was stressed out because I had no idea how the next song was going to come out. Each time, I was like, ‘How am I going to make another song that’s good?’ But then it happened, and then it happened again and again so, after that, I was like, ‘OK, making music is really fun.’ As long as I’m having fun, it’s going to sound fun — and I’m going to be happy with it.” — J.A.R.

Production: Resin Projects. Makeup: Karina Milan at the Wall Group

Mia Katigbak leans forward with her left leg in the air holding a railing with both hands.

Katigbak, photographed at Lincoln Center Theater in Manhattan on Feb. 2, 2024.

Jennifer Livingston

Name: Mia Katigbak Profession: Actress and co-founder of NAATCO Age: 69

Debuting in: Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” (1899), opening this month.

What she’s excited about: “My character, Marina [the central family’s maid], infantilizes everyone. Everything is falling apart around her, but she’s like, ‘Aren’t the old ways better?’ There are a lot of possibilities in that — without getting too metaphorical about the state of Russia, politically and socially.”

What she’s nervous about: “There’s always going to be that common nervousness of ‘I’m going to mess up,’ but somebody brought to my attention that NAATCO [the National Asian American Theatre Company, which was founded in 1989] has done quite a lot of Chekhov; I didn’t even realize it, and I chose all of them. What I find fabulous about Chekhov is that there are sad situations but also human comedy. You have to find the funny if you’re in dire straits, otherwise you’ll slit your wrists.”

How she feels about having her Broadway debut after five decades on the New York stage: “You live long enough, [expletive] happens. I’d kind of figured, ‘Maybe I’m not Broadway material.’ Usually, when Asians get cast, it’s a musical, and I’m not a singer-dancer, so it was never necessarily going to be a goal. I’m a little bit more realistic: I recently got a text [with a photo of the ‘Uncle Vanya’ ad] from a colleague who said, ‘Look at Miss Fancy Pants,’ and I’m like, ‘I’m just a working stiff.’”

How she reinterprets classics: “From the get-go, the point of NAATCO was to ask people to open their vistas in terms of ‘how, what, by whom, for whom’ in theater. We tackled the Western classics first — William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (1600) and Thornton Wilder’s ‘Our Town’ (1938) — and my only caveat was not to change them to Asian settings. I remember the first couple of years, maybe decades, people always used to ask, ‘Oh, you’re doing Shakespeare! Are you going to set it in Japan?’ Which isn’t bad, but it’s not the only way to do it. Reception was mixed; there was criticism from both Asian and non-Asian audiences. When we started to do new work — with Michael Golamco’s ‘Cowboy Versus Samurai’ in 2005 — it became a redefinition of what immigrant stories were. Most of the time, the work’s thought of as only one thing, so that was something to figure out. But you can say that about all good theater: It’s asking you to receive something in a different way.” — J.A.R.

Arielle Smith stands with her hands behind her back in the corner of a dance studio.

Smith, photographed at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in the London suburb of Twickenham on Feb. 14, 2024.

Andrea Urbez

Name: Arielle Smith Profession: Choreographer Age: 27

Debuting in: A reimagined “Carmen,” based on the French writer Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella about a Roma woman in southern Spain, which Smith has set instead in Cuba for the version (of the same name) she’s choreographing that premieres at San Francisco Ballet this month.

What she’s excited about: “As a performer, I trained in classical ballet but then went into contemporary dance — the reason I fell out of love with ballet was that the female roles didn’t feel empowering. Not that I needed to be empowered all the time, but every story was dictated by the relationship a woman has to a man. So when Tamara [Rojo, the company’s artistic director] approached me, my first thought was, ‘How could we justify another “Carmen”?’ I wondered how the story would change if one of her lovers was a woman. Musically it’s also not the same — we’ve got a new score from the Mexican Cuban composer Arturo O’Farrill [departing from the French composer Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera], so it’s quite a leap from where it was birthed.”

What she’s nervous about: “I don’t see the point in telling a story again the same way, so that’s one element I’m not nervous about ... but I’m about everything else. The challenge is trying to tell an intimate story in a big space. To make this piece well, it has to move people in some way, and that’s what I’m anxious to get across — for people to feel something.”

How she’s translating the Spanish-set story to Cuba: “Bizet wasn’t Spanish, [so] I thought it’d be more interesting to mainly hear Cuban sounds. I’m Cuban; Tamara’s Spanish; and [the Uruguayan fashion designer] Gabriela Hearst is our costume designer. It’s a full Latinx team, but we’re all different. And this is a universal story that’s not driven by geography. It’s not set on a certain road in Havana but in the soul of these people. I’m not trying to overly examine Cuba. It’s about who I am, as a person who happens to be Cuban, and what my voice contributes.” — J.A.R.

Photo assistant: Callum Su

Pidgeon, photographed at Playwrights Horizons in Manhattan on March 10, 2024.

Sean Donnola

Name: Sarah Pidgeon Profession: Actor Age: 27

Debuting in: “Stereophonic,” a new play by David Adjmi with music by Will Butler (formerly of the indie-rock band Arcade Fire), which transfers to Broadway this month following a run at Playwrights Horizons, where it premiered last fall — that production was Pidgeon’s New York stage debut.

What she’s excited about: “This story [about a fictional band’s interpersonal struggles while recording an album in the 1970s] talks about relationships and what one has to sacrifice to make art. New York’s full of artists, and I’m excited to hear what types of conversations people have after seeing the show.”

What she’s nervous about: “The transition to the Golden Theatre. Singing’s so vulnerable. It’s one thing to mess up in front of 200 people, another to mess up in front of four times that many. Off Broadway, we’d have instruments [accidentally] break down halfway through a scene, and we’d have to figure out how to make it feel authentic.”

How she created her character, Diana, one of the band’s lead singers: “Diana’s not looking to other people to give her an example — she’s not following some blueprint. Her band’s waiting for her to make that next great song, and she gets commodified really fast. I can’t say the same for myself, but I’m [also not dealing with being] a woman in [rock in] the 1970s.”

How she settled into the three-hour play’s slowed-down, naturalistic rhythms: “Our director, Daniel Aukin, kept talking about a documentary feel. I think the design of the play — of hearing overlapping conversations — is [very] fly-on-the-wall. Because of its realism, it can evoke the feeling of a film. There’s this sense that it’s not necessarily a performance when we’re doing these shows; it’s not showy. It’s this thrill of being able to keep things private while also recognizing there’re people in the audience two feet away from you. As an actor, you really feel the tension.” — J.A.R.

Hair: Tsuki at Streeters. Makeup: Monica Alvarez at See Management

Olujobi (third from left), at the Public Theater in Manhattan on March 9, 2024, along with (from left) the “Jordans” actor Naomi Lorrain, the director Whitney White and the actors Brontë England-Nelson, Kate Walsh, Ryan Spahn, Toby Onwumere, Meg Steedle, Matthew Russell and Brian Muller.

Video by David Chow

Name: Ife Olujobi Profession: Playwright Age: 29

Debuting in: “Jordans,” her first fully staged production, opening this month at New York’s Public Theater under the direction of Whitney White. The play is about a 20-something woman named Jordan (Naomi Lorrain), the only Black employee at a creative studio, whose office life is upended when her boss hires another Jordan (Toby Onwumere), who’s also Black, to be the company’s director of culture.

What she’s excited about: “For a while, this was that play everybody thought was great but nobody wanted to produce. I thought it’d just be a thing that ends up on the page: It’s such a crazy, visual play that lives in this imaginative space, with a lot of production elements. I’m excited to bring that to life — and have it be people’s introduction to me.”

What she’s nervous about: “Making a play that feels current — in the sense that I started writing it in 2018, did the first reading in 2019 and now we’re in 2024. The play addresses the idea of bringing people of color into a [professional] situation as a trend, not out of any genuine interest in them. It has to do with quote-unquote diversity in the workplace, and it feels like we’ve gone through three different cycles of that conversation since I started writing it. I’m trying to synthesize everything that we’ve been through in the past six years but not feel like I’m shaping the play to respond to these fluctuations.”

How she found her way to playwriting: “I was in the Public’s Emerging Writers Group in 2018, which was my introduction to theater. I was never a theater kid; film was my first love — I’d worked at the Criterion Collection during school and done my thesis in screenwriting. When I graduated [from New York University], I [only] wrote a play to get into the [playwriting] group. I had this experience of being fired three times in a row [after] graduation and felt like I had to express something about being the only Black person entering professional spaces.”

How the play’s surrealist tone came to be: “The main character gets coffee poured on her face in the first scene. For me, that was a big breaking open of the play: ‘This is the kind of world that she’s living in. What else can happen in this world?’ It has what we might call surreal elements, but I don’t always think about it that way because, within this play, everything is real. It’s not a dream.” — J.A.R.

Photo assistant: Serena Nappa. Digital tech: Zachary Smith. Production: Shay Johnson Studio

Kim, photographed at his restaurant, Noksu, in Manhattan on Jan. 15, 2024.

Daniel Terna

Name: Dae Kim Profession: Chef Age: 28

Debuting in: Noksu, the 14-seat tasting counter he’s run since last October below ground in Manhattan’s Herald Square, where he serves Korean-inflected dishes, including grilled mackerel with brown butter and squab with gochujang agrodolce.

What he’s excited about: “I had a feeling, during the pandemic, that something might change — like everyone had to start [again] from zero. Even three-star sous-chefs changed careers: They’ve stopped working in restaurants; they’re selling truffles or doing kitchen shows or TikToks. There was a gap, and I thought if I played up my Asian heritage and my French cooking background, someone would be looking for that. Then I met [the restaurant’s] owners, and they offered me this space in a Koreatown subway station.”

What he’s nervous about: “With restaurants, you prove yourself every day. There’s no tomorrow, no next week. I knew I had to have a tasting menu: I have a personal goal — I’m not telling anyone what it is — and, to reach that level, I think it can only be a tasting menu. I’m not enjoying cooking that much; it’s not a passion. This is my career. I don’t cook at home but, if I think about that goal, it makes me come to the restaurant.”

What he took from working at the New York restaurants Per Se and Silver Apricot: “I really thought, ‘What kind of person am I? What kind of cook? What’s my individualism?’ Working in fine dining is such an honor, but it’s their food. It’s not me. I started focusing on food that would represent who I was.”

How he’s handling everyone’s dietary restrictions: “Right now, we don’t accommodate, because we’re a small kitchen. But sometimes they can push you: If a guest can’t eat dairy, how do you make that sauce creamy without using milk? It requires more work, more thought, more team effort. It’s happened a couple of times, and we just freestyle.” — J.A.R.

Tyla wears an Alexander McQueen jacket $5,990, and shorts, $1,690, alexandermcqueen.com; and Prada shoes, $1,120, prada.com. Photographed at Issue Studio in Los Angeles on March 16, 2024.

Photograph by Shikeith. Styled by Sasha Kelly

Name: Tyla Profession: Singer-songwriter Age: 22

Debuting in: Her first full-length album, “Tyla,” released last month. It’s the product of more than two years of collaboration with writers and producers from around the world — and her first time traveling outside of South Africa (she grew up in Johannesburg). Together, they refined her sound, which she describes as “music that people can dance to: Afrobeats, pop, R&B and amapiano,” the last of which is syncopated electronic music that originated in South Africa in the 2010s.

What she’s excited about: “My first tour. My creative director, Thato Nzimande, and I have been speaking about this forever. I have Coachella coming up and, after sitting for so long with this music and all these ideas, I’m excited to see people’s reactions.”

What she’s nervous about: “I used to be very nervous about performing because all of this is very new and, once something’s on the internet, it’s saved forever. I don’t want to look at it years from now and be cringing . I’m a perfectionist but, as an artist, you’re never going to be happy with everything all the time. That’s something I had to learn — how to let go.”

How she synthesizes South African and American influences: “I love the sound of amapiano production, with the log drum and the shakers and the drops. But I’ve also always wanted to be a chart-topper like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears and now SZA, except I wanted to do it with my sound [her first hit, “Water,” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in October]. Obviously, people believe, ‘Oh, I have to make just pop.’ But that’s boring to me. I want to sell what I know and love.”

Why South African music has global appeal: “People say they can feel it, and that’s cool because we feel it. It’s very spiritual to us; it’s a genre we feel in our bodies. All these amapiano dance moves that everyone does, it’s not even dancers that come up with these moves — it’s just random people, drunk uncles in the corners of clubs. It’s organic, and I think people are looking for that genuine vibe.” — E.L.

Production: Shay Johnson Studio. Hair: Christina “Tina” Trammell. Makeup: Jamal Scott for YSL Beauty

Peck (near center, in a black shirt), photographed at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan on Feb. 27, 2024, along with (top row, from left) the “Illinoise” musicians Kathy Halvorson and Jessica Tsang, the dancer Craig Salstein, the musician Brett Parnell, the dancers Byron Tittle and Christine Flores, the musician Kyra Sims, the dancer Robbie Fairchild, the musician Daniel Freedman, the vocalist Shara Nova, the music arranger and orchestrator Timo Andres and the music director Nathan Koci; (middle row, from left) the vocalist Elijah Lyons, the dancer Ahmad Simmons, the vocalist Tasha Viets-VanLear, the dancers Ricky Ubeda and Kara Chan, the writer Jackie Sibblies Drury and the associate music director Sean Peter Forte; (bottom row, from left) the musician Domenica Fossati and the dancers Jeanette Delgado, Ben Cook, Alejandro Vargas and Rachel Lockhart.

Video by Jason Schmidt

Name: Justin Peck Profession: Director and choreographer Age: 36

Debuting in: “Illinoise,” the first stage musical he’s directing, which opens this month on Broadway after a run last month at the Park Avenue Armory. Based on the singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 indie-folk album, “Illinois,” the show was also conceived and choreographed by Peck, who collaborated on its narrative with the playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury.

What he’s excited about: “The ‘Illinois’ song cycle [in which every track relates to the Midwestern state] is one of the great albums of the last 20 years: [Sufjan] didn’t have a recording studio; he’d find a musician up in [New York’s] Washington Heights and record a violin part without realizing what it was going to be part of — he’d run all over, assembling [bits]. I’ve had a long collaboration with him [Peck has based six ballets on Stevens’s music, beginning with “Year of the Rabbit” for New York City Ballet in 2012], so it feels full circle, having discovered that album as a teenager.”

What he’s nervous about: “It’s not a conventional musical; it lives between genres. It’s framed as a gathering around a campfire, being intoxicated by the heat … a campfire beckons storytelling. We enter into the worlds of these people sharing stories on an evening in the wilderness. That’s a difficult thing for managing audience expectations. One of the most challenging parts is trying to tell a full story without words. There are lyrics, but even the lyrics have a sense of poetry to them. They’re not literal.”

How he brought on board his collaborator Jackie Sibblies Drury: “Sufjan was involved early in developing the musical arrangements but has been relatively hands-off [since being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder, last year] and wasn’t in a place where he wanted to go back to that time in his life. I needed a storytelling partner. Jackie told me how much she loved the album; when she moved to Chicago, she and her then boyfriend listened to it on the road there. A lot of these songs resonated with both of us at a coming-of-age time in our lives, and that’s part of our approach: intimate and personal.” — J.A.R.

Production: Shay Johnson Studio. Photo assistants: Shinobu Mochizuki, Tom Rauner. Digital tech: Kyle Knodell

Stella, photographed at Percy Priest Lake Park in Nashville on March 7, 2024.

Stacy Kranitz

Name: Maisy Stella Profession: Actress and singer Age: 20

Debuting in: “My Old Ass,” a coming-of-age comedy in which her character, Elliott, a young woman leaving her small Canadian hometown for college, meets her 39-year-old self, played by Aubrey Plaza, while tripping on mushrooms. In theaters this August, it’s Stella’s first movie — and her first acting project since spending much of the past decade on the TV series “Nashville” (2012-18), in which she played a country star’s singer daughter.

What she’s excited about: “Being reintroduced in a way that feels true to me. I was a baby when ‘Nashville’ started; it’s hard to have people see you as a character for so many years. You have to be careful with the next thing you do, especially after you take a break [to finish high school], and I wanted to be represented in a way that felt genuine and pushed me in the direction I wanted to go. I thought a project like this would come 10 years down the line, if ever.”

What she’s nervous about: “I think I confuse anticipation with anxiety. I just feel general anticipation all the time, whether it’s about a date this weekend or this movie coming out; it’s that feeling that something’s about to happen. In my body, I might confuse it with nerves, but there are happy and cozy feelings, as well, so it levels out.”

How she collaborated with the writer-director Megan Park on her dialogue: “I watch a lot of young adult shows and think, ‘Oh my God, we sound so dumb. We don’t talk like that.’ Not everything’s abbreviated and slang. Megan [who’s 37] knows how to write for Gen Z because she includes us in her process. She doesn’t have an ego and molds her characters to who’s playing them. We’d do scripted takes and then ‘fun runs,’ where we got to improv, and she’d add lines in the moment.”

What was it like creating the template for Plaza’s character: “You’d think Aubrey would’ve come first, but I was the first one attached to the film. In any other situation, it’d be me matching her, but I feel like Elliott is very similar to me so, when Aubrey and I met, I could feel her filming me with her eyes, trying to get a scope.” — J.A.R.

Hair and makeup: Laura Godwin

Lakota-Lynch (bottom row, in a white T-shirt), photographed at Open Jar Studios in Manhattan on Feb. 26, 2024, along with (top row, from left) the “Outsiders” composer Zach Chance, the choreographers Rick and Jeff Kuperman and the writer and composer Justin Levine; (middle row, from left) the actors Brent Comer, Jason Schmidt, Joshua Boone, Kevin William Paul and Dan Berry; (bottom row, from left) the actors Emma Pittman and Brody Grant, the director Danya Taymor, the writer Adam Rapp and the actor Daryl Tofa.

Justin French

Name: Sky Lakota-Lynch Profession: Actor Age: 32

Debuting in: “The Outsiders,” a new musical that opened this month and is based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel about rival teen gangs. Lakota-Lynch plays Johnny Cade, a shy 16-year-old from an abusive home. He appeared in “Dear Evan Hansen” in 2018, but this is his first time originating a role on Broadway.

What he’s excited about: “I’ve been with the show for six years, and it finally feels fully baked. People are going to be expecting us to come out tap-dancing, but you have [the writer] Adam Rapp and [the director] Danya Taymor, and those people have never done a musical. It’s the ultimate place for an actor-singer. It’s truly a play with music [by Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay of the folk duo Jamestown Revival, and the songwriter Justin Levine], and I think it’s going to shock people.”

What he’s nervous about: “It’s going to be sad to eventually let Johnny go. I’m doing this on Broadway, but it’s like the period at the end of the sentence.”

The actor sings a snippet of James Taylor’s 1970 song “Fire and Rain.”

Video by Jordan Taylor Fuller

How he’s approaching playing a beloved character: “Johnny doesn’t have a lot of lines: He’s like an Edward Scissorhands [type] — I have to fill the space with energy. The cool thing about playing the character is that I got to imbue him with myself. I’m Native American and Black, and the story is set in Tulsa, Okla., where that’s [not uncommon]. My costume has Native American embroidery; my version of Johnny feels fully fleshed out. Of course, I stole things from Ralph [Macchio, who played the role in the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film] and from the novel — it’s that fine line between tough and tender, but it’s tailored to me.” — J.A.R.

Production: Shay Johnson Studio. Photo assistant: Shen Williams-Cohen

Becoming a Character

The comedian and actress Meg Stalter, photographed at Smashbox Studios in Los Angeles on Jan. 24, 2024, tests a few moods in front of the camera.

Photographs by Shikeith. Styled by Delphine Danhier

The comedian and actress Meg Stalter, 33, started gaining attention on social media during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns when she posted absurd short-form videos playing different personae, like a Disney World team leader conducting an employee orientation. The following year, she had her TV debut on HBO’s “Hacks” as Kayla, a less than helpful assistant to a talent agent. Now she’s filming her first lead role on the new Netflix series “Too Much,” written and directed by Lena Dunham (and loosely based on Dunham’s life), in which she plays the workaholic Jessica, who responds to a breakup by moving to London.

I took so many improv classes when I first [was] doing comedy. It’s the starting point for me when I develop characters. During the pandemic, I’d do improv on Instagram Live every night. The theme would be “We’re going to Paris” or “We’re doing a women’s exercise class.” It was just me doing improv online by myself for hours. When I take on a role, I study the script and imagine if I had to improv a scene. “What would I add or take away? How’s this person different from me? What could I give to the character of my own personality?”

When I read the part of Kayla, I’d already met Paul [W. Downs, a co-creator of “Hacks”] at a stand-up show. [I found out later that] he had me in mind when he wrote the script. That was almost more nerve-racking: It was strange to think, “What if I lose this part to someone else but they were thinking of me in the first place?”

Kayla started as the assistant who comes in and says a crazy line. But in the third season of “Hacks,” she has more emotional scenes, which add another layer: When a character experiences a range of emotions, it makes the crazy stuff even funnier.

The comedian and actress tells a knock-knock joke.

At first when you get a script, you picture yourself in it and think, “Oh, well, she probably looks like me.” That changes the more you get to know the character. Lena [Dunham]’s been so open to talking through Jessica. She’ll say, “Tell me what you think about the hair,” and, “Tell me if there’re any outfits you don’t like.” She even made a playlist Jessica would listen to. There’s Avril Lavigne, Girlpool, Sabrina Carpenter. When I’m studying the script, I’ll play that in the background. Jessica’s into the dreamy side of London and Jane Austen. She’s a little girlie and wears a lot of pink. She wears [nightgowns] as actual dresses and things that’re a little bit too cute for work. I sent [the costume designer] Arielle [Cooper-Lethem] some dresses from Fashion Brand Company. They look like [they could be in an Austen adaptation] but modern and sexier. Like shirts with ribbons all over or matching sets made of lace. Everything’s kind of funny but also hot. It’s stuff I would’ve worn when I thought I was straight. I feel like Jessica’s the straight version of me.

It’s interesting to be playing a version of someone whose work I’ve admired for so long. I’ve rewatched [Dunham’s 2012-17 HBO series] “Girls” so many times. To have everything she’s written in my head but be told, “Just do it the way that you would do,” or, “This is all yours now,” it feels freeing. There’re some directors and writers who want you to say exactly what’s on paper.

When you’re in character in front of a camera, there’re certain things you can’t prepare for. I can research so much for a part — create memories for the character, talk through costume — but if it comes out differently [than what I imagined], that’s OK. It’s important to be able to let go and let the scene be what it is. Some people torture themselves after performing. They’re like, “I should’ve said this or that.” I really don’t do that. Once it’s out there, that’s what it’s supposed to be.

Stalter wears, from start: Versace dress, $1,990, versace.com ; and Alexander McQueen ring, $690, alexandermcqueen.com . Versace dress and headband, $325. Wray shirt, $185, wray.nyc ; Dolce & Gabbana dress, $2,095, dolcegabbana.com ; and Sophie Buhai earrings, $395, ssense.com .

Production: Resin Projects. Hair: Tiago Goya. Makeup: Holly Silius. Manicure: Pilar Lafargue

Making a Painting

The artist Roberto Gil de Montes, photographed at his studio in La Peñita, Mexico, on Feb. 13, 2024, painting “Man With Lizard Mask.”

Photographs by Nuria Lagarde

Since 2005, the painter Roberto Gil de Montes, 73, has lived and worked in the fishing village of La Peñita de Jaltemba north of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific coast of Mexico. He was born in Guadalajara but moved as a teenager to Los Angeles, where he was active in the Chicano art movement. It wasn’t until he took part in the 2020 show “Siembra” at the gallery Kurimanzutto in Mexico City, though, that the art world took notice of his dreamlike Surrealist works. Next year, Gil de Montes will be the subject of a career survey at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

I live in a place where there’re no museums or galleries. I’m inspired by my surroundings — by the jungle, by the ocean. I often say there’s no better background than the ocean for painting. I have two studios: one at home, where I work on paper, and a painting studio in town near the ocean. Usually, I start at home on paper. I either sketch or use watercolor wash. If I’m going to do an oil painting, I go to the studio in town. Before I work, I might just sit around and look at books — I like [monographs about Henri] Matisse, [Paul] Cezanne, [Edouard] Manet. It’s sort of a meditation. A lot of times, an idea surges when I’m working on something already; other times, it might be a memory. Or a dream. The other day, I had a dream that I was taking a photo with my phone of a house on fire — but I was conscious that the house was a drawing. [When I woke up] I thought, “Well, I should do a painting of that.”

I’m very intrigued by how memory works and how the memory of something can trigger [a new idea]. [While putting together the career survey] I’ve revisited all of these old works of mine. Some I remember painting. Others I don’t remember at all. I’m 73 years old. I forget things, and then I start thinking, “Wow, this is interesting because if I’m working from memory and forgetting things, how’s that going to affect the work that I do? How can I explore that?” For instance, somebody sent me a painting they said was mine. I said, “No, I didn’t do that painting. I’m sorry,” only to find out that I’d signed the back. A lot of the ideas I’ve been working on come from the past. In the [2022] Venice Biennale, I had a painting [“Up,” 2021] of somebody hanging upside down or falling through the sky. That came [about] when I walked into the studio and noticed I had inadvertently put a painting upside down. I said, “Actually, that’ll make a good painting upside down.” I don’t know how other artists work. I’m very open to ideas.

Reimagining a Retrospective

The conceptual artist Jenny Holzer, photographed at her studio in upstate New York on Feb. 6, 2024, with LED text from her series “Survival” (1983-85), which will be on view at her exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from May through September.

In 1989, the conceptual artist Jenny Holzer installed an LED scroll of aphorisms — “Abuse of power comes as no surprise” is among the most famous — on three of the six internal ramps of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. It was part of her retrospective “Untitled (Selections From Truisms, Inflammatory Essays, the Living Series, the Survival Series, Under a Rock, Laments and Child Text).” Next month, Holzer, 73, will restage the work there as part of her show “Jenny Holzer: Light Line” (which will also include other pieces from her 50-plus-year career). But this time, the LED installation — which will display the original “Truisms” and other text series — will go all the way to the top.

I’m a self-loathing, slow study so [ahead of the 1989 retrospective at the Guggenheim] I had to walk and walk around and around and around the museum. It finally occurred to me, “Oh, around and around is the answer [to how the piece should be displayed].” I’m relieved I attended to what Frank Lloyd Wright did: The building is magnificently, utterly self-sufficient. It doesn’t necessarily need art, and it’s inclined to shrug it off at times.

As I was developing the new exhibition, I started walking the museum again — and not just the ramps. I went up and down the stairs a few thousand times. I went in the elevator, in assorted bathrooms, in nooks and crannies. And in those places, I put everything from the first diagrams I made in the ’70s on up to icky paintings made by A.I.

The conceptual artist discusses a sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois.

Video by Joshua Charow

If I have a specialty, and I’m not certain that I do, it’s installation. I like hunting and seeing. The first step is to go blank, with no preconceptions. And then, since it is visual art, using my eyes to see. Then that mysterious thing happens: Ideas come — when you’re lucky. Otherwise, you try again.

When I’m just trying to make a new artwork for anywhere, it’s adequate to lie on the couch with my eyes closed and wait for that pizza to arrive — the “art” pizza. But when I’m [fortunate enough] to be in a building like Wright’s Guggenheim, it’s — surprise, surprise — necessary for the body to be in the space. Alert, alive, all tentacles reaching out, all senses going. And on some level, being hopeful.

Photo assistant: Ece Yavuz

Adapting an Ibsen Play

For the second time, the playwright Amy Herzog, 45, has adapted a work by Henrik Ibsen. The first was “A Doll’s House” (1879), starring Jessica Chastain. Herzog’s latest staging, “An Enemy of the People” (1882), stars Jeremy Strong as Dr. Thomas Stockmann, a physician who is shunned for warning his town that its lucrative public baths are contaminated. Michael Imperioli plays his brother, Peter Stockmann, the mayor, who seeks to suppress Thomas’s findings.

When I begin an adaptation, I first read a few different translations of the play. Then I try to get those out of my head. For “A Doll’s House” and now “An Enemy of the People,” I’ve worked with a translator named Charlotte Barslund. She does a literal translation in English, which stays as close to the feeling and meaning of the original Norwegian as possible. I go through that line by line, translating it into my own words without making any big decisions. Once I have my first version, I start the bigger work of cutting. For “An Enemy of the People,” we cut three characters. I decided to cut the character of Katherine, Thomas Stockmann’s wife, after a lot of conversations with Sam [Gold, the play’s director and Herzog’s husband]. Her sections weren’t working; they were feeling really turgid. There’re sections that his daughter, Petra [played by Victoria Pedretti], could pick up if Katherine was gone.

What was remarkable about cutting Katherine was realizing how little had to change. The fact that you didn’t have to do major surgery on the play was one tell that cutting Katherine was a good idea. It gives Stockmann this recent terrible grief. It’s a particular grief when you’re a doctor, I think, to lose a spouse — to be the doctor who can’t save your loved ones. That spring loads the play as it begins: He’s reaching a place where he can have happiness again — [only] to be completely betrayed by his community and to lose everything he’s finally gained.

Ibsen wrote domestic psychological plays and social plays. “A Doll’s House” is the former and “An Enemy of the People” the latter. [When adapting “A Doll’s House”] I learned some pretty basic things about the mechanics of making it feel leaner and more modern. But other than that, it was shockingly different to translate them and humbling that he had plays that were so totally different inside of him. This play is bigger and rangier and even more relevant than “A Doll’s House.” It’s very timely — there’re a few headlines it brings up. One is climate change. I was reading a lot about scientists who weren’t listened to when they tried to sound the alarm years ago. I was also reading Naomi Klein’s [2023 memoir] “Doppelganger” and thinking about the way the body politic becomes sick. I try to do a lot of research before writing — I read a fair amount of Ibsen biographies — so there’s no single influence that’s too loud while I’m working. When I’m really doing the translation, I need quiet and cloistering. So there’d be gaps in my communication with [Jeremy] and everyone else. Then there’d be the moments, after reading a draft, when it was time to talk and become porous again.

Jeremy was the reason for the production. From the moment I began to work on “An Enemy of the People,” I knew who was playing Thomas Stockmann. I’ve known Jeremy since 1997, and I’ve seen a ton of his work, so his voice was influencing the way I adapted that character.

[Jeremy and Dr. Stockmann] are similar in that they both have a total commitment to what they believe in. Having someone in my life with that kind of devotion to his craft and to his storytelling means that I’m coming to [the character] with the texture of a real, contemporary person. Every few days, he sends me a poem or an article or something that’s meant something to him related to the play. He sent me the William Butler Yeats poem “A Coat.” The first three lines are “I made my song a coat / Covered with embroideries / Out of old mythologies.” There’s this incidental line in Ibsen’s original [script] that people often cut — but I didn’t, I love it — when Captain Horster [Dr. Stockmann’s loyal friend] makes his first entrance before you even see Dr. Stockmann, who says, “Hang your coat on that peg. Oh, you don’t wear an overcoat?” Captain Horster is this character who has no pretense and is an uncorrupted type of human. And Ibsen has him coatless at the beginning. So the idea of a coat and what it is to cover yourself has become an interesting thematic touch point for us.

Putting Up a Gallery Show

Since graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1999, the visual artist Joe Bradley, 49, has made a habit of reinvention. His style continuously shifts, from mixed-media sculptures to line drawings to highly saturated large-scale canvases. His most recent exhibition of paintings opens this month at David Zwirner gallery in New York.

I tend to arrive at my studio [in Long Island City, Queens] around nine, turn the lights on, make a pot of coffee. Then, depending on what sort of stage the paintings are at, I’ll just start working. If it’s early on [in the piece], I’m much more active. When the paintings [begin] to come together, it’s a lot more about just looking and making little decisions to resolve things. I don’t have a real ritual. I don’t even have to be in any particular state of mind. If I’m distracted or depressed or happy or whatever, I just come in and see what happens.

I do begin with some practical decisions. I know how big the painting is going to be and what sort of surface I’m going to be working on. I know what the contour of [a show] will look like. I don’t make any sort of preparatory sketches — the paintings reveal themselves to me through the process of working on them. But the deadline [for the show] ends up being this organizing force. It’s the day your entire year revolves around, the time [by which] you know the paintings will have to be presentable and cohesive. It’s helpful to have that because, otherwise, you could keep things up in the air indefinitely.

When I paint today, I might be responding to a mark on the canvas that I made six weeks or six months ago. What I’m doing early in the process isn’t going to be available visually by the end — most of it’ll be painted out or it’ll disappear in the process. I lay traps or create little problems for myself to encounter. It’s almost like the uglier it gets in the early stages, the better the painting will be.

Building an Installation

Suzanne Jackson sits on a bucket assembling a sculptural work involving paper or plastic and wire mesh.

The artist Suzanne Jackson, photographed at her Savannah, Ga., studio on Feb. 1, 2024, works on a piece that will eventually be installed on a terrace at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Kendrick Brinson

The Savannah, Ga.-based artist Suzanne Jackson, 80, has worked as a dancer, a set and costume designer, a professor and a poet — but most notably as a painter. Jackson describes her ethereal compositions as “anti-canvases,” which she creates by building up layers of acrylic paint and at times found materials, including netting and produce bags. In 2025, she’ll display a selection of work from her six-decade career, along with a new site-specific installation, as part of a retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

I’m working on a commission for the fourth-floor terrace of [SFMoMA]. It’s an installation that’ll climb the walls of the terrace and partially fill the open space. My approach is quite different than if I were working on a painting in my studio: I have to think of it in an architectural or sculptural sense. There’re technical aspects, so I’ve been doing a lot of research in airports and from airplane windows, looking at large-scale structures that don’t fall down — things on the rooftops of buildings like windsocks or poles. This piece will be built from the ground up, unlike my other work that hangs from the walls or ceiling.

I don’t go looking for ideas. I just go into the studio and start painting. Now that I’m older and not teaching, I don’t have to do anything except paint. In the morning, I roam around the house. I do the laundry. I feed the cats. I look out the window and stare at nature. I have a big window at the end of my kitchen and can see tall trees and birds and animals and insects. I go through the studio to get to the kitchen from my bedroom, so sometimes I end up stopping and looking at work I’ve already done. There’s a lot of sitting and thinking and looking. Sometimes, I’ll turn on music — Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy or Yo-Yo Ma. On Mondays and Fridays, it’s [the Savannah radio D.J. and jazz historian] Ike Carter’s show “Impressions.”

As the music flows, so does the paint — that’s a spiritual environment to be in. Other times, I’ll work in absolute silence. At the beginning, I explore. I’m never quite sure what’s going to happen. Usually, it comes spontaneously. One brushstroke leads to the next, and then it becomes another idea. I might think I have one idea when I start, but it often changes along the way to be something completely opposite. I’m just having a good time being a painter. That’s how I started, and it’s how I’m going to end.

Photo assistant: Dayna Anderson

Lorraine O’Grady,

89, new york city.

The multidisciplinary artist and critic, whose solo show at Mariane Ibrahim gallery in Chicago opens this month.

A suit of armor with a spiky helmet and a raised sword.

Lorraine O’Grady’s “Announcement Card 2 (Spike With Sword, Fighting)” (2020).

I thought I was going to be a writer. My family tells me that I made my first poem when I was a year and a half old: “I like mice because they’re nice.” [In my early 30s, after working for five years] as an intelligence analyst, I went to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop for fiction. I hadn’t really been reading fiction, though, so I wasn’t very good at writing it. I spent most of my second year there translating short stories written by my instructor [the Chilean novelist] José Donoso.

Growing up, I had all these exposures to beauty. I’d gone to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston as a child and seen [Paul] Gauguin’s “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?,” a painting that continues to influence me. And my mother was a dress designer. She redid our house every six months. By the time I was 10, I basically had everything that I’m now working with in place, but I didn’t have the language. I didn’t get that language until the early 1970s, when I read [the critic and curator] Lucy Lippard’s “Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object From 1966 to 1972.” [Then] I was ready. The ideas for my visual art already existed within my experience. I just hadn’t known they were art before.

A few years later, when I was in my early 40s, I had to have a biopsy of my breast. After — thank God, it was negative for cancer — I was thinking about what I could give my doctor as a thank-you present. Reading my copy of the Sunday New York Times, I saw a line in the sports pages about Julius Erving that said, “The doctor is operating again.” I said, “OK, this could be the start of something,” and I made a really good poem for my doctor [out of words clipped from the newspaper]. But when I finished the poem, I said, “This is too good to give to him.” Then I immediately started making newspaper poems for a project called “Cutting Out The New York Times.” I made one every week for 26 weeks. When I finished, I realized that I’d become a visual artist — or revealed that I was a visual artist. — interview by J.C.

Toni Morrison,

The author of 11 novels, including “Beloved,” “Sula” and “Song of Solomon.”

By the time Toni Morrison wrote “Beloved” (1987), her best-known novel, she’d worked for nearly two decades as a book editor. Her debut, “The Bluest Eye” (1970), was published when she was 39 and, while not a commercial success, was critically praised. She published three more books between 1973 and 1981 — including “Song of Solomon” — while still at her editing job.

Prior to going into publishing, Morrison — who had a master’s degree in American literature from Cornell University — spent nearly a decade teaching college English. After her divorce, she worked for a textbook division of Random House before joining Random House proper as its first Black female editor; there, she championed and published Black authors such as Angela Davis, June Jordan, Gayl Jones and Toni Cade Bambara. “I didn’t go to anything. I didn’t join anything,” she once said about the civil rights movement. “But I could make sure there was a published record of those who did march and did put themselves on the line.” All the while, Morrison was waking by dawn to write before heading into the office. She’d later describe those sessions as a form of liberation: “The writing was the real freedom because nobody told me what to do there. That was my world and my imagination. And all my life it’s been that way.”

For many years, Morrison considered her day job essential to her art. “I thrive on the urgency that doing more than one thing provides,” she once said. But the industry had its difficulties — the overwhelming whiteness, the increasing commercial demands — and she left her position in 1983. Four years later, at age 56, she published “Beloved.” In a preface to the 2004 edition of the book, she looks back on the rush of feelings she experienced following her last day at the job. “I was happy, free in a way I had never been, ever. It was the oddest sensation. Not ecstasy, not satisfaction, not a surfeit of pleasure or accomplishment. It was a purer delight, a rogue anticipation with certainty. Enter ‘Beloved.’”

65, New York City

The multidisciplinary artist and former drag performer, whose paintings are currently on view at the Dallas Contemporary art space and the MassArt Art Museum in Boston.

A floral painting with a purple background.

A 2023 acrylic on canvas by Tabboo! titled “Lavender Garden.”

My mother put me into an art class when I was 15 at the Worcester Art Museum, and then I went on to art school [at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design], where I majored in painting and fine art. I remember my first sale, to my aunt Julie. She wanted me to copy [Jean-François] Millet’s “The Gleaners.” I didn’t want to copy someone else’s stuff — I think one of the reasons I’m popular is that I’m very original — but I still did the painting, of course. It was a commission and I was being paid!

I started performing drag in nightclubs when I moved to New York in 1982, but I’ve always been painting, too. This isn’t something I just came up with, like, “Oh, I can’t get on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ I better start painting.” I had one-man shows and gallery exhibitions right after graduating from art school. Elton John and Gianni Versace bought my paintings. I don’t want anyone to have the impression — which certain people seem to — that I took up painting just because I stopped doing drag. I might be getting a bit more attention for it now, but I’ve always been doing it.

I usually get up at four in the morning. I feed my cat and then start painting. A lot of my paintings are sunrises. And I do sunsets and cityscapes. Or if it rains in a weird way, I’ll do a rain painting. It’s a very spiritual, meditative, private thing. There isn’t a day that goes by that I haven’t done something, and so my work gets better and better and better. And I must say, I’m a master of my craft now.

Sometimes a collector will ask, “Can we come over to the studio and watch you paint?” I tell them no. I usually do it naked. — interview by J.C.

Justin Vivian Bond,

60, new york city and the hudson valley, n.y..

The performer and multidisciplinary artist, whose work has been exhibited at Participant Inc. and the New Museum in New York City, and will be on view at Bill Arning Exhibitions in Kinderhook, N.Y., in May.

Justin Vivian Bond’s watercolor “Witch Eyes, by Viv, to Protect You From Evil Chodes: Lois” (2024).

When I was in high school, I was interested in visual art as well as music and acting, but I decided to major in theater in college because I thought it was a career that could get me out of Maryland and allow me to move to New York. I became a performer, and I’ve been doing cabaret for many years. In 2008, when I broke up my cabaret act Kiki and Herb, my rent was so cheap that I didn’t have to work as much. I started painting again, and it flows very naturally for me.

My watercolors are primarily portraits of people I know. I’ll ask them to pose for a photograph and then paint from that. I also make pseudo fan art, like my “Witch Eyes” series, which is based on iconic photographs of celebrities’ eyes. The wonderful thing about painting is that you have total control over it, if you’re lucky. Onstage, there’re so many variables. And with painting, you don’t have to be there [when people see your work]. I love being in front of an audience, but I don’t really love being among people. The pleasure for me is singing but, when the show’s over, I have to talk to a lot of people. I like all of them, but there’re too many, so it can be a little overwhelming. You don’t ever get to connect on a deeper level. The most satisfying times in my life have been when my shows have been installed and it’s the night before the opening. All of it’s exactly how I want it — the room, the lighting — and I just sit there and look and have this sense of utter satisfaction. — interview by J.C.

Wallace Stevens,

The poet, whose best known works include “The Emperor of Ice-Cream,” “The Snow Man” and “Anecdote of the Jar.”

Wallace Stevens never quit his day job. Though he had literary ambitions as a young man, serving as the editor of the Harvard Advocate as an undergraduate, he earned his degree from New York Law School and in 1916 joined the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company, where he remained, specializing in surety and fidelity claims, until his death, in 1955. Yet he was writing all the time: on his daily walk to work, at home in the evenings and sometimes in the office.

It wasn’t until 1914, when Stevens was 34, that his first post-college poems appeared in literary journals. He went on to publish seven volumes of poetry over the course of his lifetime. The first, “Harmonium,” released in 1923, sold fewer than 100 copies; the last, 1954’s “The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens,” won the Pulitzer Prize.

The themes of Stevens’s work — the affirming power of art and beauty, the sublime contained within the mundane — suggest one reason why he stuck with insurance law even as his artistic acclaim grew. His steady paycheck would have allowed writing to remain a purely creative act. In his essay “Surety and Fidelity Claims,” Stevens says of his insurance work, “You sign a lot of drafts. You see surprisingly few people. ... You don’t even see the country; you see law offices and hotel rooms.” Poetry, on the other hand — as he characterizes it in 1923’s “Of Modern Poetry” — “must be the finding of a satisfaction.” It was his livelihood, in the most artistic sense of the word.

Theaster Gates,

50, chicago.

The University of Chicago professor and multidisciplinary artist, whose solo shows at the Gagosian gallery in Le Bourget, France, and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo open this month.

A sculpture resembling a piano covered with white metal.

Theaster Gates’s sculptural work “Sweet Sanctuary, Your Embrace” (2023).

In 2000, I took a job as the arts planner at the Chicago Transit Authority. There was so much new construction happening there, and my role was to appeal to the Federal Transit Administration for a portion of the transit money to be set aside for public art. In a way, it was like an M.B.A.: I managed $26 million over four or five years. My negotiating skills went through the roof.

I’d graduated from Iowa State [in 1995] with a degree in community and regional planning and then did a [post-baccalaureate] in religious studies and fine art at the University of Cape Town. After that, I spent time in Japan studying ceramics. So when I came to the C.T.A., my background incorporated both art and community and, every day, I was leaving there and going to my ceramics studio.

In 2005, I left the C.T.A. because I outgrew the position, and I stopped making pots because I couldn’t afford my studio. I started using more recycled materials in my work [such as wood pallets]. It was during this period that I was starting to combine my knowledge of minimalism and conceptual practices with my background in building and working with my dad, who was a roofer. Now buildings have kind of become my primary monuments, and the project management and team building that I learned at the C.T.A. are really evident in the way that I create.

I did a project at the New Museum [that opened in late 2022 and] was essentially an exhibition about mourning and loss. My father had died six months prior to the opening, and I didn’t have time to mourn his death or the deaths of dear friends like [the fashion designer] Virgil Abloh, my mentor [the Nigerian curator and art critic] Okwui Enwezor, [the author] bell hooks and [the film scholar] Robert Bird. The show grew out of a desire to grapple with my feelings and honor these people. The museum didn’t necessarily have the budget to do all of the things that I wanted to, so I had to figure out, “Are there poetic ways to articulate loss that don’t require substantial build-out, or big, fancy gestures or expensive audio equipment?”

Ultimately, I included Bird’s 9,500-volume library, and Virgil Abloh’s widow loaned me his yellow diamond-studded necklace. Those were moments when limitations built new friendships and more nuanced opportunities, and I feel like having been a planner’s what made me willing to pick up the phone and say, “Hey, would you be willing to collaborate with me?” — interview by J.C.

Remember That You’re Never Truly Equipped to Start Anything

As actors, we feel like we have to be ready, but I’d say you’re never ready. You’re not prepared for something you’ve never done before, so let go of that. This past year I did some symphony gigs for the first time, and it was incredible. It was better than being ready, because I just had to be new. — Ali Stroker, 36, actress and singer

Myha'la stands outside under a dim sky wearing a hoodie.

Myha’la in season one of “Industry,” 2020.

Amanda Searle/HBO

Embrace Fear — but Come Prepared

I have the curse of perfectionism, and there’ve been so many projects where I’ve said, “I’m not right for that, so I’m not going to audition.” But that’s kind of lazy, so I’ve rewired my thinking: If something’s targeting some insecurity in me, why not take the opportunity to work on that thing? I used to avoid anything with an accent but now, if I got the call for “Bridgerton,” I’d feel confident enough to go for it. Definitely do your homework, though. With almost every trading scene in “Industry,” I’ve thought, “Nope, I’m not going to be able to get the words out.” I don’t sleep the night before, and I’m wrecked the next morning. Then everything pours out because I’ve come in prepared. Filming the first season of “Industry” in 2019 was the first time I’d been on a job longer than five days, the first time I’d worked out of the country, the first everything, and I was so nervous. Go toward things that scare you. — Myha’la, 28, actor

Make Yourself Start

Deciding what’s a good idea is an ongoing battle. But you can only think about something for so long before you just have to try it. Someone once told me that when he makes a painting he likes, he’ll make another one with the same idea to see if it holds up and then another, which I thought was pretty good advice. Sometimes I force myself to go to my studio and start painting [Gordon initially set out to be a visual artist and started focusing more on her art practice about 25 years ago], even if I don’t have an idea. I like conceptual thinking, but I also like the physicality of painting. Usually that leads me to something and, even if it doesn’t — what am I going to do, sit around and watch movies all day? — Kim Gordon, 70, musician and visual artist

Put Yourself in Your Body — and Your Past

Sometimes painting can feel like this dream I have where I’m in the back of a moving car and I’m reaching over to the front seat to try to get control. That’s a nervous system in panic. There’s a grounding exercise I like to do where I jump and really feel my feet smack the floor — trying to get yourself back into your body’s part of the trick. And then I go, “Well, who’s dreaming?” If you can get there, you’re lucid in the dream, and that’s a good place to be. Still, feelings will come up that you don’t want. When I was working on this satyr painting, suddenly the satyr was my old friend Chris, who betrayed me when I was 18 to a group of guys who beat me up. I thought, “Why am I painting Chris? I don’t want to paint Chris.” I was in flow for a while but, when I hit this painting, I experienced self-doubt and thought, “People are going to think these paintings are awful.” Then I went on Instagram and liked one of his pictures. It felt like a weird, brave task. And he wrote to me and asked if he could call me, 26 years after ghosting me, and he apologized for 20 minutes. I cried and I think he probably cried, and I felt it all melt away. And then I went back to the painting. — TM Davy, 43, artist

Kim Gordon, wearing a floral jumpsuit, poses in front of a red background and extends her left hand.

Kim Gordon in 1990.

Laura Levine/Corbis via Getty Images

Psych Yourself Out

If things are too hard, something’s wrong, but you also have to embrace the awkward feelings. See if you can fool yourself — I used to get self-conscious about drawing when I was a teenager in an art class with a model, and the teacher said, “Don’t think of it as drawing. Think of it as designing the page.” That really loosened things up for me. It’s amazing what you can do if you pretend. — Kim Gordon

When people say they’re self-taught, it means they asked somebody else how they did it. When I began in folk music, I went to the clubs and I begged and borrowed and asked. [More recently, having taken up painting acrylics a little over a decade ago,] I was painting [Anthony] Fauci and couldn’t figure out how to do his glasses. I called an artist friend and she had all these tricks — “Don’t try to copy the photograph,” she told me, “just use dabs of paint here and there to give the impression of glass.” It didn’t take more than 45 minutes to learn how to put glasses on Fauci. Without her, I would’ve struggled for weeks trying to get it right. — Joan Baez, 83, singer-songwriter, activist, painter and author

Don’t Sweat the End — and Work on More Than One Thing at Once

Remember that the maker almost never knows exactly what they’re making in advance. The great works often appear when we’re aiming toward something completely different. Start as soon as you see a way in. I [also] find it helpful to work on multiple things at the same time. Not in the same moment but during the same general time period. The beauty is that different projects are at different stages, so you can avoid getting burned out on any one [thing]. We can step away, work on something else and come back with new eyes, as if we’re seeing it for the first time. Tunnel vision’s easy to fall into when working on a single project for a long period. We can end up getting lost in details nobody else will ever notice, while losing touch with the grand gesture of the work. — Rick Rubin, 61, music producer and author of “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”

Murray Hill in 1996.

Catherine McGann/Getty Images

Treat Procrastination as Productivity

There were certain things I couldn’t do during the [SAG-AFTRA] strike, but I did get a book deal. It’s called “Showbiz! My Unexpected Life as a Middle-Aged Man,” and I’ve got to get that done — by June 1st! I’m used to being onstage. When I’m sitting at my desk in my studio apartment, I procrastinate quite a bit, and I’m always asking myself, “Is this part of the creative process for me, or am I just making my life harder?” But I also procrastinate in productive ways. I go for a walk — in rehab, they taught us, “Move a muscle, change a thought.” Then I come back and put on jazz music. Doing that removes the blocks, probably because jazz is so much about improvisation and I’m at my core an improviser. Another thing I’ll do to light the match is turn to others’ work. I’ll watch Dean Martin videos or a documentary or old game shows. For this memoir, I’ve been reading memoirs by other people — Gary Gulman, Viola Davis, Maria Bamford, Leslie Jones, Aparna Nancherla — and not only does that awaken my creative senses, it triggers memories. — Murray Hill, 52, comedian, actor and writer

Be Comfortable With Discomfort

There was a time when [my] body was always ready, and when I had so many axes to grind and windmills to chase [that] something would come out. Now I can’t just depend on my body being there — that I’m going to bust a move and seduce — so I have to be a little more strategic: “What’s the idea? Does it serve anyone other than you?” I’m trying to reaffirm for myself that what I have left in me to say is worth saying. Doubt is always with us, and it burns like fire. But if I refuse to give up the mantle of being a creative artist, I’ve got to do something. [You might say] “Well, why don’t you just love a child? Why don’t you go work at a soup kitchen down the street?” Because I’m a self-involved son of a bitch. Procrastination says, “I don’t dare,” but can you live with yourself if you don’t? So how do you start? Terror. Guilt. Fear. All negatives to this generation of young people who don’t ever want to be uncomfortable, but the generation that formed me and my own generation had that feeling that you’re being pushed against and you’ve got to push back, because you’re not like them. As Martha Graham said to Agnes de Mille, “There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” I’ve got to believe that about myself, and the evidence is what I dare to do. — Bill T. Jones, 72, choreographer, director and dancer

If Your Work Goes Up in Flames, Don’t Fetishize the Ashes

One thing that eases the prospect of getting started is remembering that not everything you make needs to be for consumption or even to count as art. I recently spent nine months quietly making these works — mineral paint on cement slabs — and ended up throwing them all away because I decided they were too conventional. You’re not married to your old self, either. In 2013, there was an electrical fire at the studio I’d just moved into, and the building burned to the ground. I lost cartons of negatives and proof sheets that were over six feet tall, as well as photographs — stuff I’d made five, seven, 10, 15 years prior. Of course, it was traumatic and terrifying, but it was also freeing. Eventually I realized it was an opportunity for me to draw a line and stop making a certain kind of work. As artists, we think, “I got known for this type of thing,” or, “This is what everybody seems to like of mine.” A part of me felt, “I have to rebuild this person,” and then I thought, “Well, I don’t,” and I started something else. It was actually one of the most fruitful periods of my creative life. — Anthony Pearson, 55, painter, sculptor and photographer

Joan Baez holds a guitar and sings into a microphone.

Joan Baez in 1974.

David Redfern/Redferns via Getty Images

Practice Some Denial

When I was working on “Diamonds & Rust” (1975), I was at a low point of my career and I made a decision that I was going to concentrate on music and quit globe-trotting for different issues. I realized that the music needed my time and attention if it was going to be any good. Learning to live with the state of the world’s a daily practice. Everything we do, we do against the backdrop of global warming and fascism. I never dreamed I’d live in a world this chaotic and discouraging, and I’m overwhelmed but I’m also a great believer in denial — I think that’s where you have to be in order to create, or have fun or dance — providing that we set aside a certain amount of time to come out of denial and actually do something to help. — Joan Baez

Reject Fear. And Put Your Ego to Bed.

Last year, I went through what medical professionals would call a flop era. I’d had three years of the kind of lovely, psychotic busyness that has you hopping from job to job, just following green lights, but then everything went poof — the show I was working on got canceled; the financing for the film adaptation of my novel fell through. I’d been working on such personal things regarding sex and disability and, when those things ended or weren’t [well] received, I began to doubt myself. But then, you’re combating panic, and I started thinking really awful thoughts like, “Do I need to write a pilot where there’s a dead body?” Fear is the most poisonous thing to creativity. You can’t force it, and you have to listen to the work — it’ll tell you what it needs to be. Look at me getting all woo-woo, but it’s true. When you make a living off of writing, not every single project’s going to be from the depths of your soul, but I think there should always be some level of enjoyment. Starting over is really humbling, by the way. Knowing when to stop and when to start over requires giving your ego an Ambien. Real failure is letting your ego drive the bus of your life right off the cliff. — Ryan O’Connell, 37, writer and actor

Alice McDermott, 70, writer

There are three kinds of novels I’ve never taken to heart: science fiction, murder mysteries and novels about novelists. So I’ve decided to try my hand at each. If I fail, they’re probably not books I’d want to read anyway.

Thurston Moore, 65, musician and author

I’m putting the final touches on a new album, “Flow Critical Lucidity.” But after my memoir, “Sonic Life” (2023), came out, I realized my next mission was a novella, the working title of which is “Boomerang and Parsnip.” It concerns two madly in love youths in the wilds of Lower Manhattan circa 1981, and it’s wholly irreal, bordering on fantasy.

A painting of a bearded man with long white hair flipping through a book with a large die inside. Stacks of books are on shelves behind him. A sheathed knife hangs on the wall. On the table in front, a goblet and a baguette.

Courtesy of Samuel Delany

Samuel R. Delany, 82, writer

I’m writing a guidebook for a set of tarot cards I designed with the artist Lissanne Lake.

Susan Cianciolo, 54, visual artist

I’m preparing a solo exhibition that will open at Bridget Donahue gallery next month, so I’m making new works and curating older ones. It’ll definitely feature a book of my watercolor tree paintings, “Tell Me When You Hear My Heart Stop.”

Jenny Offill, 55, writer

I’m planning to start a band called Spacecrone. (I’ve stolen the name from a book of Ursula K. Le Guin essays.) It’ll be all female and 55-plus. Our faces will be made up like Ziggy Stardust, but we’ll wear sensible clothes and shoes. What’s kept me from starting it is that I can’t sing or play any instruments.

Alex Eagle, 40, creative director

We’re finessing our bag collection, which we’re trying to make as luxurious, but also as practical, as possible. And I’m planning to write a cookbook with my son Jack.

Earl Sweatshirt, with his hair in long dreadlocks, wearing a gray T-shirt and a wristband, holds up a microphone.

Jim Bennett/Wire Image, via Getty Images

Earl Sweatshirt, 30, rapper and producer

Making more music — it’s the one thing I always find myself coming back to, though every time I do, I have to overcome intense feelings of self-doubt. I also want to try stand-up, but I’m scared because there’s no music to hide behind. I don’t want dogs-playing-poker laughs, either. You know the [paintings] of dogs playing cards? Like, “Oh, it’s a rapper doing stand-up.”

Alex Da Corte, 43, visual artist

I’ve been writing an opera for some years now based on Marisol Escobar’s [assemblage] “The Party” (1965-66). It’s set at a time when the sun only shines for one day a year, and the players at the party are all wondering how to move forward while holding on to their pasts.

Danny Kaplan, 40, designer

While clay has been my faithful medium for years, I’ve lately been fueled to broaden the scope of my craft by embracing — and learning how to push the boundaries of — new materials like wood, metal and glass.

Kengo Kuma, 69, architect

Getting out of [Tokyo]. I’m doing my best to reduce the burden on big cities — I think humankind has reached a limit when it comes to congestion — and I’ve recently opened five satellite offices in places like Hokkaido and Okinawa.

Raul Lopez, 39, fashion designer, Luar

The thing I’m always meaning to restart is my video blog “Rags to Riches: Dining With the Fabbest Bitches,” an exploration of how food, fashion, music and art all connect.

Charles Burnett, 80, filmmaker

Right now I’m involved in the development of two films. The first, “Edwin’s Wedding,” is the story of two cousins, separated by the Namibian armed struggle with South Africa, who are both planning their weddings. The second, “Dark City,” also set in Namibia, is more of an emotional roller coaster about betrayal and vengeance told in the Hitchcockian mold.

Ludovic Nkoth, 29, visual artist

I’m looking to experiment outside the confines of the canvas — sculpture and video have always been lingering in the back of my head.

Elena Velez, 29, fashion designer

I want to start a series of salons to bring together great minds across multiple disciplines, while feeding the subculture that my work draws from.

Daniel Clowes, 63, cartoonist

I’ve always had the desire to do fakes of artworks I admire — to figure out how they were done, and so I could have otherwise unaffordable artwork hanging in my living room. Painting [with oil] is as frustrating and exhilarating as I remember it being when I was in art school 43 years ago, and my paintings look alarmingly not unlike the ones I did at 19.

Piero Lissoni, 67, architect and designer

I’ve started the design for several new buildings that will become government offices in Budapest. I’d like to start designing chairs, lights, skyscrapers, spacecraft. In truth, I’d like to start doing everything again.

A painting of tangled bodies fighting with a man raising a baby into the air.

Peter Paul Rubens’s “The Massacre of the Innocents” (circa 1610), Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

Robert Longo, 71, visual artist

I’ve been struggling to figure out how best to make sense of the overwhelming images in the news, so I’m turning to the past. I’m working on two monumental charcoal drawings based on paintings [about war]: Peter Paul Rubens’s “The Massacre of the Innocents” (circa 1610) and Francisco de Goya’s “The Third of May 1808” (1814).

Gabriel Hendifar, 42, designer

I’m moving into a new apartment by myself after a series of long relationships. I’m excited to challenge my own ideas about how I want to live and to see how that affects the work of my design studio [Apparatus] as we begin our next collection.

Donna Huanca, 43, visual artist

I’m working on two solo exhibitions. One will be in a late 15th-century palazzo with underground vaulted rooms in Florence, Italy; the other in a modern white cube in Riga, Latvia. For years, I’ve tailored works to the architecture of their exhibition spaces, so I’m enjoying working within this duality.

Satoshi Kuwata, 40, fashion designer, Setchu

We’re about to start offering shoes. I’ve thought of the design. Now I just have to go to the factory and see them in real life.

Aaron Aujla, 38, and Ben Bloomstein, 36, designers, Green River Project

We’re starting a new collection of furniture based on offcuts from the studio that are finished with a modified piano lacquer. Hopefully, a suite of these pieces will be ready for exhibition by fall. We also have a commission we’re excited to start — a large sculptural fireplace made from three unique logs of rare wood.

Adrianne Lenker, 32, musician, Big Thief

I want to start learning how to paint. The few times I’ve tried it, I loved it but also felt daunted by all I needed to learn. I often think of my songs in terms of paintings. My grandmother Diane Lee’s an amazing watercolorist. Recently she gave me a lesson all about gray.

A textile artwork with patterns of green and purple bars and three circular patterns with a spider in the center.

Melissa Cody’s “Power Up” (2023), courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

Melissa Cody, 41, textile artist

I’m starting to create wall tapestries that incorporate my pre-existing designs, which were handwoven on a traditional Navajo/Diné loom, but these new works are highly detailed sampler compositions made on a digital Jacquard loom.

Josh Kline, 44, multidisciplinary artist

I’m working toward shooting my first feature film — a movie, not a project for the art world.

Sally Breer, 36, interior decorator

My husband and I have started building some structures on a property we own in upstate New York — he has a construction company in Los Angeles. We’re using locally sourced wood and are 80 percent done with a studio-guesthouse, a simple 14-by-18-foot box set on foundation screws, tucked into a pine forest. This is the first time we’re really working together as a design-build team. He’s started referring to it as our “art project.”

Eddie Martinez, 47, visual artist

I’m restarting a group of large-scale paintings for an exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum [in Water Mill, N.Y.] this summer. They’re each 12 feet tall and based on a drawing of a butterfly. The series is called “Bufly” since that’s how my son, Arthur, mispronounced “butterfly” when he was younger. I’d put the paintings aside while I finished my work for the Venice Biennale. Now I’m locked in the studio, painting like a nut!

Karin Dreijer, a.k.a. Fever Ray, 49, singer-songwriter

I’ve been thinking about learning to play the drums. They’ve always felt like a bit of a mystery to me.

Eric N. Mack, 36, visual artist

I’m starting to recharge in order to begin my next body of work. I journal, read, explore the Criterion Channel and get deep-tissue massages. I keep wishing I’d organize the fabrics in my studio.

Jenni Kayne, 41, fashion designer

We’re starting the next iteration of the Jenni Kayne Ranch [the brand’s former property in Santa Ynez, Calif., where she’d invite guests for yoga, dining and spa experiences], only this time we’re heading to upstate New York. We’re calling it the Jenni Kayne Farmhouse, and it’ll include a self-care sanctuary where slow living is a genuine ritual.

Christine Sun Kim, 43, multidisciplinary artist

I have a bit of an adverse reaction to people doing American Sign Language interpretations of popular songs on social media — they’re usually based entirely on the lyrics in English, when rhyming works differently in ASL. So I’ve been wanting to make a fully native ASL “music” video. One day.

Ellia Park, 40, restaurateur

I’ve started collaborating with the in-house designer at Atomix, one of the restaurants I run with my husband, Junghyun Park, on custom welcome cards for the guests that feature bespoke artwork.

Awol Erizku, 35, visual artist

Awol Erizku’s “Pharrell, SSENSE” (2021), from "Awol Erizku: Mystic Parallax" (Aperture, 2023), courtesy of the artist

I’m focused on my exhibition “Mystic Parallax,” opening in May in Bentonville, Ark. [which will include concerts and portraits of such people as Solange and Pharrell Williams]. What I never seem to get around to is archiving all of my negatives in the studio.

Jeremiah Brent, 39, interior designer

As I navigate the [effect of the] ever-so-saturated interior design algorithm, I’m challenging our team to expand the language we speak, diversifying design references by looking to the unexpected: playwrights, films, historians and science.

Vincent Van Duysen, 61, architect

I’m focusing on the 90th anniversary of [the Italian furniture company] Molteni & C. I’m also excited about our recent addition to the family — a black-and-tan dachshund called Vesta after the virgin goddess of the hearth and home.

Kwame Onwuachi, 34, chef

I’m working on launching a sparkling-water line — the proceeds of which will help bring clean water wells to African countries — and starting to write my third cookbook. I start everything I think of.

Larissa FastHorse, 52, playwright and choreographer

I’m adapting a beloved American musical — I can’t say which — into a TV series. Which is scary because, even though I just adapted “Peter Pan” for the stage, the TV process is the opposite: Instead of cutting down a three-hour musical, I have to add hours and hours of content. So it feels like beginning over and over again.

Peter Halley, 70, visual artist

I’ve started to paint watercolors. Now that I’ve reached 70, I thought it was about time. The images are arranged in a grid like on a comic book page, but the narrative’s asynchronous. They’re based on images of one of my cells exploding, an obsession I’ve had going all the way back to the ’80s.

Darren Bader, 46, conceptual artist

I want to start an art gallery called Post-Artist that regularly shows art but refuses to name who made it. No social media presence. I also want to do what Harmony Korine is doing, except with none of that content.

Jeff Tweedy, 56, musician, Wilco

I’m about to record an album of new music with my solo band, which isn’t really solo at all. I’m bringing my sons and the close friends and quasi family who’ve been playing with me live for the past 10 years or so into the studio. I’ve written songs that feel like they can be a vessel for all of our voices together: a miniature choir. There’s really no experience that compares to singing with other people. I think it tells us something about how to be in the world.

Charles Yu, 48, writer

I’m about to start promoting the “Interior Chinatown” series [based on Yu’s 2020 novel]. I’d like to get into music and service. My son’s a drummer, and he’s awakened some latent impulse in me. And my daughter and wife have been volunteering. I’m not exactly sure what’s been keeping me from either. I could say work, but I suspect the actual answer is nothing.

Elyanna, 22, singer-songwriter

I’d love to improve my Spanish. I visit my family in Chile at least once a year and, every time I fly back to L.A., I realize that I need to keep practicing.

Boots Riley, 53, filmmaker and musician

I’m getting ready to start filming a feature I wrote about a group of professional female shoplifters who find a device called a situational accelerator that heightens the conflict of anything they shoot it at. I also have a sci-fi adventure: a janky, lo-fi epic space funk opera. My dream is to use the same crew and shoot the two movies back to back in Oakland, Calif. [where I live]. That’s one thing about being 53 — I want to be able to spend more time with my kids.

Boots Riley, wearing a brown jumpsuit, sunglasses, and with low sideburns, a mustache and a soul patch sits on a swing set in a park.

Damien Maloney/The New York Times

Sable Elyse Smith, 37, visual artist

I’ve recently embarked on an operatic project. Yikes! MoMA invited me to make a sound piece that’ll open in July, and it’ll be a kind of prelude to a larger version. It’s titled “If You Unfolded Us.” It’s a queer love story and a coming-of-age story about two Black women.

Satoshi Kondo, 39, fashion designer, Issey Miyake

My latest experiment with washi , or traditional Japanese paper, is blending fibers extracted from the remaining fabrics of past clothing collections with the pulp mixture from which washi is made. It’s a way of playing with color and texture.

Laila Gohar, 35, chef and artist

Almost all of my work has used food as a medium and has therefore been ephemeral. Making work that isn’t — namely, sculptures — is an idea I’ve been toying with for a while, but I haven’t been able to jump into it yet. I once read something an artist said about how she thought male artists are more concerned with legacy than female artists, and that female artists are more comfortable creating ephemeral work. This rang true for me, but now I feel slightly more confident about making things that might outlive me.

Patricia Urquiola, 62, architect and designer

I was nominated [last year] as a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, so now I’m writing the acceptance thesis, or discurso de ingreso . It’s an occasion to reflect on ideas — for example, I reread the philosopher Bruno Latour, who argues that design “is never a process that begins from scratch: To design is always to redesign.”

Luke Meier, 48, and Lucie Meier, 42, fashion designers, Jil Sander

We’ve started making some objects — glass and ceramics. We aren’t at all experienced in these fields, so it’s invigorating to play again.

Two women wearing baseball caps sit and talk. One, center, is holding a binder of papers with the label "The Salt Path Draft" on the front.

Kevin Baker/Courtesy of Number 9 Films.

Marianne Elliott, 57, director

I’ve always wanted to do a film, but it requires so much time and theater is a hungry beast, so it’s eluded me until now: “The Salt Path,” starring Gillian Anderson, is based on a true story about a remarkable English couple [who embark on a 630-mile hike].

Samuel D. Hunter, 42, playwright

Last year, I was approached by Joe Mantello and Laurie Metcalf, who wanted someone to write a play for Joe to direct and Laurie to star in. I’d never met either of them but, if I had to pick one actor on earth to write a role for, it would be Laurie. “Little Bear Ridge Road,” a dark comedy about an estranged aunt and nephew who are forcibly reunited after the passing of a troubled family member, will go into rehearsals in May.

Thebe Magugu, 30, fashion designer

When I was 16, I began writing a novel, taking place between the small South African towns of Kimberley and Kuruman, that I’ve contributed to every year since. It currently sits as a huge slab of a book — around 80,000 words — and I’ve been meaning to rewrite and polish the earlier chapters. I’ve given myself the next 10 years [to finish the project]. It’ll be a gift I give to myself when I turn 40.

Misha Kahn, 34, designer and sculptor

I have an idea for this toothpaste project called Zaaams that’s expanded, of its own volition, into an entire cinematic universe. Sometimes an idea can grow so big that it’s unmanageable and nearly unstartable. Sometimes I’ll really start working on it, but I get overwhelmed by the seismic rift in society it would cause and feel dizzy. Crest, if you’re reading this, call me.

Nell Irvin Painter, 81, visual artist and writer

I’m way too old to be a beginner. I’m 81 and have already written and published a million (OK, 10) books. But a very different kind of project’s been tugging at me: something like an autobiographical Photoshop document with layers from different phases of my life in the 1960s and ’70s — spent in France, Ghana, the American South. I’d have to be myself at different ages.

A black-and-white self-portrait of a smiling woman taken in a mirror.

Courtesy of Nell Irvin Painter

Sharon Van Etten, 43, singer-songwriter

In 2020, I became familiar with the work of Susan Burton, the founder of A New Way of Life, which provides formerly incarcerated women with the care and community they need to get their lives back on track, and was so moved by her story I asked my record label if it was OK to use money from my music video budget to produce a minidocumentary on the organization, “Home to Me.” I still have a lot to learn about filmmaking, but I think it’s the beginning of something beautiful.

Piet Oudolf, 79, garden designer

I’m starting the planting design for Calder Gardens, a new center dedicated to the work of the artist Alexander Calder in Philadelphia. I’m working on it with Herzog & de Meuron architects, and it’ll include a four-season garden that will evolve with the months. Early in the year, it’s about ephemerals (bulbs). Spring is when woodland flowers are important. Summer will be the high point of the prairie-inspired areas, and in fall and winter there’ll be seed heads and skeletons. I think a good, harmonious garden is like a piece of living art.

Rafael de Cárdenas, 49, designer

As a consummate shopper, I’ve always thought the best way to bring my interests together would be with a store — a lab for testing things out and creating a connoisseurship in the process. I’m thinking Over Our Heads (the second iteration of Edna’s Edibles in [the 1979-88 sitcom] “The Facts of Life”) meets Think Big! (a now-closed shop in SoHo) meets [the London gallery] Anthony d’Offay meets [the defunct clothing store] Charivari meets [the old nightclub] Palladium.

Gaetano Pesce, 84, architect and designer

I’m working on a possible collaboration with a jewelry company from Italy. I can’t say the name yet, but the pieces stand to be very innovative. Also, another collaboration with the perfume company Amouage inspired by time I spent in Oman’s Wadi Dawkah and the beautiful frankincense trees there.

John Cale, 82, musician and composer

Ever since I played viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, I’ve been hypnotized by the thought of the discipline needed to conduct. My attention soon wandered — from John Cage to rock music. Now, 60 years on, it’s finally time.

Nona Hendryx, 79, interdisciplinary artist and musician

I’m working on the Dream Machine Experience, a magical 3-D environment that’ll be filled with music, sound, images and gamelike features. It’ll premiere at Lincoln Center this June. [My idea was] to create an imaginative world inspired by Afro-Futurism that encourages a wide, multigenerational audience to share.

Faye Toogood, 47, designer and visual artist

I’d like to develop a jewelry collection, but I haven’t. Is it because no one’s asked — no phone call from Tiffany! — or because I’m struggling to understand how adornment fits into our current world?

Freddie Ross Jr., a.k.a. Big Freedia, 46, musician

I’m recording a kids’ album and publishing a picture book for early readers. Much of my art is about language and the unique colloquialisms that we have in bounce culture. Children respond to its snappy rhymes and phrases.

Danzy Senna, 53, writer

Every time I write a novel, I think, “This is the most masochistic experience I’ve ever had — I’m going to quit this racket.” But I feel incomplete without this depressive object to feel beholden to. I just finished editing one book [“Colored Television”] and have the sinking feeling I’m about to start another.

Jackie Sibblies Drury, 42, playwright

I’m starting, hopefully in earnest, to write a play in collaboration with the director Sarah Benson inspired by action movies. We were intrigued by the problem of trying to put chase scenes or action sequences onstage, where it’s difficult to build momentum or suspense because in theater we have less control over the viewer’s eye, among other things. But hopefully the play will be about what it means to see ourselves in these macho cis men who often get hurt pretending to almost die for our entertainment — or something like that?

Lindsey Adelman, 55, designer

I’m putting together a digital archive of my work and ephemera — about 30 years’ worth — revisiting everything from the sculpture I made as a student at RISD to the paper lights David Weeks and I sold for $25 to datebooks where I scribbled notes about things I wished would come true and then did. I hope it’ll encourage others to start something. I want them to understand, “Oh, this was the first step … this beautiful, finished thing was inspired by a piece of garbage dangling from a streetlamp.”

Elizabeth Diller, 69, architect, Diller Scofidio + Renfro

A shadowy image of a blurred figure in an illuminated doorway at the top of some stairs.

David Wall/Getty Images

Since 2012, when my studio was doing research for a contemporary staging of Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera of Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw,” I’ve been meaning to start a book about ghosts. While ghosts are a well-trod literary device, their visual representation on stage and screen also has a rich history that can be told through the lens of an architect. Despite the fact that ghosts transcend the laws of physics, they’re stubbornly site-specific — they live in walls, closets, attics and other marginal domestic settings, and they rarely stray from home.

David Oyelowo, 48, actor

Something that three friends and I are in the process of building and developing is a streaming platform that we launched last year called Mansa. The idea — born out of growing frustration with making things that I love and then having to use some kind of distribution mechanism where the decision makers are almost always people who don’t share my demographic — is Black culture for a global audience. Essentially, we started a tech company that intersects with our love of story and our need to create [pipelines] for people of color and beyond to be seen.

Franklin Sirmans, 55, museum director, Pérez Art Museum Miami

There’s a recurring exhibition that I’ve worked on with [the curator] Trevor Schoonmaker since 2006 called “The Beautiful Game” that consists of art about soccer. We do it every four years because of the World Cup, and I’m starting to get into the 2026 iteration. I’ve also been trying to finish a book of poems since I graduated college more than 30 years ago. But it’s happening. It’s not like you don’t write a good sentence every now and then.

Jamie Nares, 70, multidisciplinary artist

I’ve always loved this line of poetry [from the Irish poet John Anster’s loose translation of Goethe’s “Faust”] that goes, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” One thing I’ve begun recently is a revisiting of my 1977 performance “Desirium Probe,” for which I hooked myself up to a TV that the audience couldn’t see, and relayed what was happening onscreen through re-enactment. Now I’m going to do it with YouTube videos chosen at random from the wealth of rubbish and interesting stuff on there. And as a video, because I’m not as agile as I once was.

Joseph Dirand, 50, architect and designer

A rendering of the interior of a hot air balloon, with a tufted carpet, a circular table and a curved upholstered bench. An oval window looks onto the top of clouds.

My firm has just started developing, with a French company called Zephalto, a prototype of the interiors for a hot-air balloon that will take travelers to the stratosphere, and the carbon footprint of the journey will be equivalent to that of the production of a pair of blue jeans. The balloon is transparent, so it’ll be almost as if you’re going up in a bubble of air — riders will see the curve of the earth. We’re designing three private cabins: sexy, organic cocoons that reference the ’60s and the dream of space, but are otherwise pretty minimal. The landscape is the star of the show.

Amaarae, 29, singer-songwriter

I’m working on the deluxe version of my 2023 album, “Fountain Baby.” The approach for the original album was very maximalist — I organized these camps all over the world and had a bunch of people come through to work on the music. Afterward, I felt underwhelmed — not by the project but by how I felt at the end of it all. [So] I stripped back everything so it’s just me and my home setup, trying ideas. Before, I was really lofty, but now my feet are touching grass a little bit.

Jennifer Egan, 61, writer

I’m starting a novel set in late 19th-century New York City. As always with my fiction, I have little idea of what will happen, which lends an element of peril to every project! Time and place are my portal into story, and I’m interested in a time when urban America was crowded and full of buildings we occupy today, yet the landscape beyond seemed almost infinite.

Carla Sozzani, 76, gallerist and retailer

Just as my partner, Kris Ruhs, and I revamped the then-unknown Corso Como area of Milan, we’re now putting our energy into the construction of a new studio for him, as well as the expansion of the Fondazione Sozzani [cultural center], both of which are in Bovisa, another old industrial neighborhood. I wanted to be an architect when I was young, but my father said, “No!”

Stephanie Goto, 47, architect

If my clients allow me to peel one eye away from their commissions, I’d like to dive deeper into the renovation of my own property in Connecticut, which includes the circa 1770 former home of Marilyn Monroe and a tobacco-and-milk barn that will house my studio.

Amalia Ulman, 35, visual artist and filmmaker

I’m beginning to write the script for my third feature film — probably my favorite part of the process, when I just need to close my eyes and see the film in my head. It’s the closest to a holiday because it feels like daydreaming.

Wim Wenders, 78, filmmaker

Several years ago, I started a project about the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, who, along with others, designed the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art that’s being built now. The working title of the film is “The Secret of Places,” and it’s done in 3-D. My dream is to make a comedy one day. [ Laughs .] Seriously. [ Laughs again .] I’m working on it.

A painting of a pattern of triangular shapes in red, blue and orange.

Wendy Red Star, 43, visual artist

I’ve started highlighting Crow and Plateau women’s art history by making painted studies of parfleches, these 19th-century rawhide suitcases embellished with geometric designs. I’m learning so much about these women just by their mark making, but have only come across a few that have the name of the person who made it, so I’m titling my works by pulling women’s and girls’ names from the census records for the Crow tribe between 1885 and 1940.

Nick Ozemba, 32, and Felicia Hung, 33, designers, In Common With

Next month, we’re opening Quarters, a concept store and gathering space in TriBeCa that will feature our first furniture collection.

Bobbi Jene Smith, 40, dancer, choreographer and actress

My husband, Or Schraiber, and I are creating a work composed of solos for each dancer of L.A. Dance Project, where we’ve been residents for the past year and a half. We’ve had the unique opportunity to connect deeply with some of the dancers, and this — a gratitude poem for each of them — will be our culminating project. They’ll each be a few minutes long and characterized by physicality set against silence.

Editor’s note: The architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, whose comments are included in this piece, died on April 4 at age 84.

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How to Describe Jealousy in Writing: Examples, Benefits and Tips
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How to Describe Jealousy in Writing: Examples, Benefits and Tips
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Emotion Thesaurus Entry: Jealousy
If you need to go deeper, we have detailed lists of body language, visceral sensations, dialogue cues, and mental responses for 130 emotions in the 2019 expanded second edition of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression.. JEALOUSY. Pouting; Sullen looks, glowering; Hot eyes, tears forming; Sitting against a wall, holding the knees to the chest and staring off angrily
Emotion: Jealousy.
Jealousy is an intense emotion characterized by feelings of envy, resentment, and insecurity. It often arises from a perceived threat to a person's relationship, possessions, status, or abilities. Jealousy can manifest in a variety of ways, including distrust, suspicion, anger, sadness, and anxiety. It is a complex emotion that can be triggered ...
How to Describe Jealousy in Writing: Examples, Benefits and Tips
When describing jealousy, it's also important to include the thoughts and emotions that accompany it. These can include feelings of insecurity, fear of abandonment, suspicion, anger, and envy. You can illustrate these thoughts and emotions by showing how they play out in the character's behavior. For example, you might write that the ...
Jealousy
jealousy. - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing. Jealousy is so last season, empathy is what's on all the catwalks. By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, March 9, 2021 . Jealousy eats you up from within until you are a zombie corpse, feasting on the hive-mind. By Angela Abraham, @daisydescriptionari, March 9, 2021 .
Crafting Emotion: Tip on Writing Jealousy
Tip: Characters can question the choices or actions of others in a way that implies doubt or criticism. Example: "Interesting choice; I personally wouldn't have gone that route, but to each ...
Jealousy
Avoid the person all together. Take up a bad habit or addiction in an attempt to deal with their feelings. Become obsessed about something like over exercising and dieting to beat their rival in a tournament or something more sinister like plotting another character's demise. Manipulate others into feeling sorry for them.
100+ Jealous Character Traits
Difficulty feeling happy for others' successes. Constantly comparing themselves to others and feeling inferior. Guilt and shame for their jealous thoughts and actions. The need for validation and reassurance from others to feel secure. Obsessive thoughts and behaviors regarding the person or thing they are jealous of.
Emotion: JEALOUSY
Adopting a sullen look. Making a slight growl or noise in the throat. Bitterness at watching how others respond to the rival. Quick, sharp movements (swiping tears from cheeks, shoving hair out of eyes) Pursing or pressing lips flat. Crossing arms in front of chest. Clenching teeth.
How To Tackle Jealousy In Creative Writing
Jealousy in creative writing -understanding why. The first step towards taking control of your jealous feelings and using them to your advantage is to understand why you feel that way in the first place. It is difficult to admit that you are feeling jealous - it is an ugly emotion. But if you can then you can start to understand what catalysed ...
Describing Sadness in Creative Writing: 33 Ways to ...
Instead, try using more descriptive words that evoke a sense of sadness in the reader. For example, you could use words like "heartbroken," "bereft," "devastated," "despondent," or "forlorn.". These words help to create a more vivid and emotional description of sadness that readers can connect with.
Coping With Writer's Jealousy
Coping With Writer's Jealousy. When you read others' work and follow them online, however, it's easy to slide into jealousy. Fortunately, you can leverage envy to your advantage. Guest Column. Mar 23, 2016. Stephen King said, "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.".
Jealousy and Creative Writers: Dealing With Envy
1. Use your jealousy as motivation. If a friend or member of your writing group gets a poem or short story accepted by a prestigious literary journal, cultivate an "I can do that too" attitude. If that person can get an acceptance letter, you can too! 2. Congratulate the person on her or his publishing accomplishment.
How to write Jealousy in your Romance Novel
Jealousy, an inherent part of the human psyche, is something everyone relates to, which is why it's a common theme in romance novels. You can use it to establish your characters' desires and show how important those desires are to the characters. Jealousy generates conflict and gives depth to the people in your book. It can define who those people are by how they react to the emotion ...
How to Effectively "Tell" Emotions in Fiction
But anger is the result, not the root. A character might tell the emotion she is feeling—anger—but the reader knows it's not really anger she's feeling. Her body sensations and behavior may say "anger," because anger is on the surface and moving her. This is why complex emotions are best revealed by thoughts.
How to Stop Being Jealous of Writers Who Succeed
This trap will ensnare and prevent you from becoming who you are as a writer. And that's the first tip on how to stop being jealous of writers who succeed: know who you are. 1. Grow into yourself as a writer. My "She Blossoms" blogs, books and magazine articles are all very practical and tip-oriented.
Creative Jealousy Happens
Tell envy you'll give it your ear—for a finite time only. Then, cut it off in its tracks by vowing to set aside those feelings for a minute, an hour, or a day…and refocus on yourself, better attuned to what you really need and how you really feel. It takes practice, but putting the kibosh on professional envy is good for the soul and the ...
Creative Writing and the Psyche: Envy
Envy implies a hunger, an emptiness. And hunger requires feeding. As children, we look to our parents to tend to our needs for food and shelter, love, and self-worth. As adults, we transfer this ...
How to represent jealousy in a cute way?
9. You said yourself that jealousy is a sign of insecurity. There is no way to hide it from someone who knows what it is. But there are people who are insecure themselves and enjoy it when their partners act possessive ( even when they know that it is wrong ). What you need to do is to pen her partner in such a way.
Ways To Describe A Voice: Similies & Adjectives You Can Use
Texture and Quality: Raspy: A voice that has a rough, grating quality. Silken: A smooth and soft voice, often pleasant to hear. Melodious: A voice that has a musical or tuneful quality. Husky: A slightly rough sound, often considered attractive or intimate. Nasal: A voice that resonates through the nose.
How to Describe Voices in Writing (300+ Words & Examples)
A stern voice usually conveys authority, seriousness, or disapproval. This voice type could be used to describe a parent, a boss, or anyone in a position of power. Descriptions might include words like harsh, firm, or forbidding. Example: " His voice was harsh, a stern command that left no room for argument.
Essays About Jealousy: Top 11 Examples and Writing Prompts
We are only human, after all. According to her, jealousy is a reflection of our most vulnerable side, and we should not try to purge it if we want to be healthy. Nunez gives examples from her childhood in which ignoring her jealousy affected her badly. 3. Jealousy, envy are reflections of insecurity by John Stathas.
Jealousy
Jealousy - creative writing. It was a day with hot colours, when it felt that the old wet season was about to set in. In that calm atmosphere Dion was running on the beach nearly breathless, trying to flee from his troubles. The salt soaked air was filling his lungs. Under the music of the wind and the rhythms of his memories, his eyelids ...
90 Journal Prompts for Jealousy to Help You Cope and Heal
Embrace the messiness, the rawness, and the beauty of your thoughts and feelings. Give yourself permission to be vulnerable and let your true self shine through. Lastly, let's talk about writing prompts for jealousy. Sometimes, it can be helpful to have a little guidance to get your thoughts flowing.
How to Begin a Creative Life
From debuts to do-overs, what it means to start an artistic life — at any age Clockwise from top left: Ice Spice, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Meg Stalter, Tyla, Sarah Pidgeon and Titus Kaphar. Shikeith By ...

Emotion Thesaurus Entry: Jealousy

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How to Describe Jealousy in Writing: Examples, Benefits and Tips

By Happy Sharer

Introduction

Use imagery to illustrate the feeling of jealousy

Show how jealousy can cause physical reactions

Describe thoughts and emotions that come with jealousy

Demonstrate how jealousy can manifest itself in behavior

Show how jealousy can lead to irrational thoughts and decisions

Share anecdotes from other people who have experienced jealousy

Highlight the contrast between jealousy and envy

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Jealousy – How To Craft The Perfectly Jealous Character To Catalyze Conflict In Your Novel

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Describing Sadness in Creative Writing: 33 Ways to Capture the Blues

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33 Ways to Express Sadness in Creative Writing

Understanding Sadness in Writing

Emotional Spectrum in Characters

Physical Manifestations of Sadness

Facial Expressions

Body Language

Cold and Heat

Authenticity in Describing Sadness

Language and Dialogue in Expressing Sadness

Expert Views on Emotion

Dr. Paul Ekman

Unique Examples of Describing Sadness

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Jealousy And Writers: Tips To Beat The Green-Eyed Monster

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How to write Jealousy into your Romance Novel

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