Zadie Smith on the Psychology of the Two Types of Writers
It seems it would follow that writers—so familiar with empty time and with being alone—should manage this situation better than most. Instead, in the first week I found out how much of my old life was about hiding from life. Confronted with the problem of life served neat, without distraction or adornment or superstructure, I had almost no idea of
... See moreZadie Smith • Intimations: Six Essays
On finding your second wind:
“Sooner or later, however, a writer (or at least a writer of my type) finds himself at a crossroads: he has exhausted his initial experience of the world and the ways of expressing it and he must decide how to proceed from there.
He can, of course, seek ever more brilliant ways of saying the things he has already said;
... See more