From comments on an earlier post:
ttl said...
“You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair–the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.” — Stephen King, On Writing
Eolake said...
Huh.
(Reminds me I never finished that book.)
Actually I'm not sure I agree. Some people (Heinlein for example) were very successful because they were light-hearted about writing.
And many others never can finish what they write because they take it too seriously.
TTL added:
I'm not sure I agree either. Light/heavy-heartedness may not be the axis that matters.
Here's another quote:
“The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it.” — Mike Oldfield (1980)
I come back to authenticity. Maybe what Stephen King really meant was: whatever you fill that empty page with, mean it!
Ah, yes, in that case I agree wholeheartedly.
Just yesterday I was thinking about that the reason a writer writes a lesser book (as in William Gibson's latest) may be because he is not interested in what he is writing at that time.
I'm not sure I agree either. Light/heavy-heartedness may not be the axis that matters.
ReplyDeleteHere's another quote:
“The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it.” — Mike Oldfield (1980)
I come back to authenticity. Maybe what Stephen King really meant was: whatever you fill that empty page with, mean it!
You guys remind me of a bunch of none too bright pothead college guys who sit around talking that shit that sounds profound when you're high but later, doesn't.
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