Thoughts on writer’s block and other first word problems
auburn-reporter.com – Sunday July 21, 2024
“I once heard an anecdote about a writer who’d spent a week in his apartment working on his novel, without a break. Compassionate friends finally dragged him away to dinner for the sake of sanity, and for a much needed breather.
“What did you get done this week?” the writer’s chums inquired.
“In the mornings, I put in a comma,” he answered gloomily, “and at night, I took it out again.”
Perhaps the guy had a creative block, who knows? But I’ll wager he’d also neither read nor followed the great Ray Bradbury’s advice in his book, “Zen in the Art of Writing.”
“This afternoon, burn down the house,” Bradbury wrote. “Tomorrow, pour critical water upon the simmering coals.”
In other words: don’t judge what you’re writing while you’re at it. Reserve your critiques for the editing phase. That’s the time to correct errors.
Of course, Bradbury is saying, the creative and judgement moods must be separated. Failing to recognize this is one sure way to get nothing done but spin your wheels, like our unfortunate writer with his vexing comma. When the creative fire is under you, go nuts.
Working with Roald Dahl helped me find Harry Potter
bbc.co.uk – Saturday July 20, 2024
he publisher who discovered Harry Potter has said working with Cardiff-born children's author Roald Dahl helped him see the potential in JK Rowling's novel.
Barry Cunningham has worked with some of the most well-known children's authors in the world.
He said Roald Dahl was "a tall, quite grumpy, rather heroic, very frank author" who was adored by children.
"He was occasionally extremely grumpy and short tempered with adults, but never with children," he told the Books That Made Me programme on BBC Radio Wales.
Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916 in the Llandaff area of the Welsh capital, and died on 23 November 1990, aged 74.
As marketing director for Puffin, Mr Cunningham travelled around the country with him.
It was during one of those marketing trips that Dahl revealed what he believed was the secret to the success of his books.
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