1st July 2016 | for Creatives | writing, artists must EXPERIENCE, the creative life, John Freeman |
"It is impossible for me to separate this question [of the most important thing I've learned about writing] from the bigger ones about how to live."
"Stories come out of living, and looking, and reacting, and observing and thinking. I can't explain what the source is. ... That's the experience of being alive and trying to render it coherent somehow."
"I found myself blessing the secret mind... observed when I thought I was sitting this one out. We never sit anything out. We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out."
"I'm a big fan of telling young writers to take all the detours they possibly can, both in life and in writing. Those detours are going to lead you to where you need to be. If someone says, 'How would you like to spend two years working in the Czech Republic for the state department?,' you should do that. You can always get back to your novel. You need to have as many experiences as possible."
"This business of being a writer is ultimately about asking yourself: How alive am I willing to be?"
"Newsflash: nobody has the time to write a novel except established novelists. And even then you'd be surprised how easily life intrudes."
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