“There is much to be said in favour of laying a work aside to mature; for one thing it gives the judgment time to operate; the mind is able to return to the work from time to time with a fresh outlook; and check it from many different angles. It follows also that if new ideas are to be set aside to develop and newly finished works left to ‘mature,’ there must be several things on had at the same time in various stages of development. The continuity of attention is purposely shorted and interrupted partly on account of the rest this gives.”
This time, I am not going to apologize for the lack of blogging, because I have actually been spending all of my free time WRITING my book :) I can’t believe that I can say that I just hit the 65,000 word mark and have finished the first draft of part I.
I read these quotes a few days ago from, An Anatomy of Inspiration, 1942 by Rosamond E.M. Harding, (via Brainpickings) and it inspired me and helped my justify taking a break. So, I am going to spend the next week dropping the self-inflicted pressure to write new chapters, to see some shows, do some edits and most importantly re-read the first 65,000 words as a unified part. I’ll also try and post more here!
“The true nolvelist, poet, musician, or artist is really a discoverer. Ideas –the theme of a plot, a poem, a picture, a theme of music– come to him as a gift. The idea, ‘the seed-corn’ as Brahms called it, he allows to develop naturally. There may come a point where is branched in one or many directions; he is free at this point to follow one or other. And is is here and here only that the judgement or choice of the true artist is in much the same position as a gardener growing prize rose trees, who in order to produce beautiful roses lops off unwanted shoots and suckers.”
