restraint is common
22nd June 2017 | for Creatives | create for YOURSELF, artist integrity, creative fear, writing, value the art, creative freedom, Walter Mosley |
"This would-be novelist has betrayed herself in order that she not tell the story that has been clawing its way out from her core. She would rather not commit herself to the truth that she has found in the rigor of writing every day. This form of restraint is common and wholly unnecessary."
Similar for Creatives
a writer is emotionally brave
"I think the word is fearless because once writers start editing how they do what they do or what they're writing about, I think you've already lost what you need to be doing. So I think being a writer is emotionally brave, and if you can't go there, maybe you're not ready to do it yet."
to redeem the first book by writing a second
"The urge to produce another—to redeem the first book by writing a second—led to my own spurt of inefficient frenzy, which didn't result in anything of worth. I was stalled, not be writer's block, but by the conviction that whatever I wrote had to be of superior worth."
Trust Your Instincts
"The most important thing I've learned is to trust my instincts. My professor Kathryn Harrison had this interesting way of putting it, that it's like walking a tightrope, and you're doing it but, the minute you start having doubts or second-guessing yourself—that's when you start to lose your balance. It took me a while to get to a place where I finally did trust my instincts, and it was very liberating. From then on, I felt more confident to take risks in the writing and break the rules, if you will."
default mode
"If you write ordinary stuff for long enough, then that's going to become your default mode."