tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post2381898115644406822..comments2023-05-21T14:46:54.138+01:00Comments on FictionBitch: The Great Mind of Zadie SmithElizabeth Baineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-2792525190814342012007-01-20T23:03:00.000+00:002007-01-20T23:03:00.000+00:00who is zadie smith?who is zadie smith?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-27901180920643130332007-01-15T16:37:00.000+00:002007-01-15T16:37:00.000+00:00As a furtive, unpublished scribbler, I had already...As a furtive, unpublished scribbler, I had already torn out the article to return to it again, so I'm delighted to hear it comes from a forthcoming book. <br />I have mixed feelings about Smith's fiction, but this piece was inspired. <br /><br />Oh, and can't wait for that Canogate volume of Paris Review interviews that was also featured in Saturday's Review.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-40685606516163343322007-01-14T11:07:00.000+00:002007-01-14T11:07:00.000+00:00Ah, Susan, I understand what you mean, and I'm sor...Ah, Susan, I understand what you mean, and I'm sorry if I misrepresented you.<br /><br />Katy: you're right about writing being both (fun and pain) - in very particular senses.<br /><br />As I've commented before, these issues can get so simplified and polarised on web discussions. On the other hand, the blogosphere gives us the chance to clarify and tease things out if we're prepared to do so.Elizabeth Baineshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17193751871434773972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-32215389414881307202007-01-13T20:09:00.000+00:002007-01-13T20:09:00.000+00:00By the way, I wrote my previous post and then noti...By the way, I wrote my previous post and then noticed too late to say so that the word verification was Bedvl - bedevil!Ms Baroquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836227454899083962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-59882787656490681882007-01-13T20:08:00.000+00:002007-01-13T20:08:00.000+00:00Elizabeth, I haven't read the paper yerbut it is s...Elizabeth, I haven't read the paper yerbut it is sitting there on the arm of the couch. The debate about writer's pain has been a little frustrating to me. <br /><br />Any person who is uncelebrated, unpublished, has no contract/agent/fanbase, is writing into a black hole. It's a faith thing, and as such will engender moments (at least) of self-doubt etc, especially after reading good work by other people. Anyone doing this on top of a full-time job is necessarily sacrificing something to do it - or even sacrificing some<i>body</i>. Add to that the home truth that most people who aren't writing something don't understand the impulse, and that an unpublished writer is often assumed to be a crank, or a bad writer, or a bit sad -- so this person who is working erally hard, and making sacrifices, is now trying to hide his (or her) true nature, and can only socialise on the basis of other parts of his or her personality.<br /><br />Sure, it's great to write! It makes you feel like yourself at last. It's great to read, too. And writing is the hard intellectual and emotional work Zadie Smith says it is- that's why we procrastinate etc. Back when I was writing the novel I feel sure I've mentioned to you in the past, I'd write a scene and then I had to go lie down and sleep. I used to get so flipping tired. <br /><br />It seems clear to me that most of the things about writing that are "problems" are ancillary issues. People get discouraged because the world actually does not WANT them to write. It would be easier for everyone if they didn't. They are caught in a cleft stick, because no one even wants to read what they HAVE written - unless they're lucky enough to have an agent or publisher, or if they just have a great family and that's all they want.<br /><br />(Friends who also write are a double bind. Join a group and gain competitors.)<br /><br />Of COURSE it's hard. It's ALSO fun. It's both.Ms Baroquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836227454899083962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26654079.post-35076003446196754022007-01-13T16:13:00.000+00:002007-01-13T16:13:00.000+00:00but we can spend all our time writing about writin...but we can spend all our time writing about writing. Story, psychological truth, communicating honestly but with humour and creating/sustaining a compelling reader is a different matter!<br /><br />I am a writer/director who at the very least enjoys the rigours of this challenge..waynex.wordpress.com here are some short stories, seeds of maybe bigger ideas you may enjoy. Or not. Either way they are short...<br /><br />yours, bindlestiff.waynexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14761298897415940899noreply@blogger.com