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The Sins of Literature. three-part series
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037sj0q
Worth listening to.
Thou shalt not bore
05 Monday Aug 2013
ninevoices
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05 Monday Aug 2013
Tags
The Sins of Literature. three-part series
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037sj0q
Worth listening to.
This was excellent – I listened twice! (And that uses up my quota of exclamation points, according to one of the authors interviewed.)
I scribbled down the following quotes:
The idea
Howard Jacobson: “You can’t get going till you have a ‘voice'”
Martin Amis: “I start with a frisson, which is very welcome. It’s a moment of trance. It says “Here’s a novel you can write.’ Then you sit down and the novel somehow accumulates.”
Paul Aster: “The book has to create this music that I’m hearing in my head.”
Not boring
Philip Larkin (on judging Booker books): “So many literary novels have a beginning, a muddle and an end.”
Robert McCrum: “How many times have you not been able to put down a book until p100?”
Mickey Spillane: “Nobody reads books to get to the middle.”
Writer’s block
Martin Amis: “Writer’s block is where the subconscious goes dead. I’ve learned to walk away and give it time.”
Robert McCrum: “Stephen King believes in ‘the boys in the basement’. “Let the boys in the basement sort out your problems overnight.””
Miscellaneous advice
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.”
“Avoid metaphors. They’re like literary bibelots..’See the fake flowers in my garden'” (Will Self)
“Never use ‘suddenly’ or ‘all hell broke loose’.”
Really helpful summary. Thanks so much, Christine.
Sarah