The forbidden word can be provocative. But after a while it becomes monotonous rather than arousing.
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Toni Morrison, The Art of Fiction No. 134
Sex is difficult to write about because it’s just not sexy enough.
My feelings are the result of prejudices and convictions like everybody else’s.
The difficulty for me in writing—among the difficulties—is to write language that can work quietly on a page for a reader who doesn’t hear anything. Now for that, one has to work very carefully with what is in between the words. What is not said. Which is measure, which is rhythm, and so on. So, it…
I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my…
But although history should not become a straitjacket, which overwhelms and binds, neither should it be forgotten.
Writing before dawn began as a necessity—I had small children when I first began to write and I needed to use the time before they said, Mama—and that was always around five in the morning.
I only know that I will never again trust my life, my future, to the whims of men, in companies or out. Never again will their judgment have anything to do with what I think I can do. That was the wonderful liberation of being divorced and having children. I did not mind failure, ever, but I minded…