On Writing

“To a Young Writer” was written at the bequest of an editor; but as I was writing it, I realized that it is essentially a letter to my own younger self. “Write your heart out”—“Don’t be discouraged”—“Read widely, and without apology.” This is still my advice to myself—as to all the “young” and “not-so-young” writers out there.

Perhaps this is an obvious one, but please do not check your email or the news or your texts or your social media or anything like that right when you wake up. (Get a real clock; don’t sleep in the same room as your phone.)

I’m not one of those people who think you have to write from some sacred, semi-subconscious state of mind that’s closest to... See more

Stephen Sondheim replied right away. He offered love and sympathy — “and tea, if you want it.” His protégé’s predicament seemed totally understandable. “I don’t know why this hasn’t paralyzed you already,” he emailed back. “I’m sure it’s already occurred to you, but the simplest way is the best. Isolate yourself from everything but family and... See more

Joyce was in the habit of reading some of his own fiction to his pupils. After one of their lessons, Schmitz admitted that he, too, had been a writer once. Curious, Joyce asked to read his work, and Schmitz lent him his two novels. At their next lesson, Joyce arrived with an urgent question: “Do you know that you are a neglected writer?”

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

“The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.”

If a writer ever achieved that perfect book, Faulkner said, there would be nothing left for him but suicide.

something I never think about when I write a novel or a story, which is mainly designed to interact with another person on an intimate scale, in the silence of their reading experience.

every single distraction you may point to as the reason you have not or cannot make your work is all the same thing—it’s always just your fear of what may or may not happen if you make your work.