The mood I fall into when I am truly possessed by my work is one which resembles the trances of the mystics. I shut out the outer world to concentrate on what I see and feel. There is no doubt that the act of creation is very similar to the act of dreaming.
Written in 1968, so it’s as old as I am. While framed as a call to arms for a certain kind of novel, it’s largely an exegesis of her own method and her own creative goals and wishes.
I am curious about science, the world around us, fashions, textures, lighting, theater, all the other arts and their particular language. This work is for me, like the scales of the musician.
For me, this was, to use the parlance, to be seen. I was kind of shocked at how much of a process I share, perhaps now more than ever, with a writer who produced these words my own lifetime ago. Perhaps interesting, this was written after the flush of the French Nouveau Roman, with perspective on Robbe-Grillet et al and what needed to come next.
As a writer, I found it completely inspiring to see her process and thinking laid bare. It is an invitation to take her positions and see how it compares with your own. My Kindle highlights are several feet long, I think, and I’ve printed them off to stick in a notebook so I can reflect on them at length. There’s a whole world of ideas, questions and sparks in this sim volume. I think any creative person could get joy and wonder out of it.
I think we should always write about what we know, or what we wish to know.
I believe that to be correct. The latter part is perhaps more important than the first part. This was one of the best books I read this year.