It is a lie to write in such way as to be rewarded by fame offered you by some snobbish quasi-literary groups in the intellectual gazettes.
Interpretation
Writing for fame compromises authenticity and integrity.
In this quote, Ray Bradbury emphasizes the idea that pursuing writing purely for the sake of gaining fame or recognition within elitist circles undermines the true purpose and value of literature. He warns against conforming to the tastes of certain literary groups rather than writing genuinely from one's own voice and passion.
In practice
This quote can be used in a workshop about authentic writing practices.
I've written about 2,000 short stories; I've only published 300 and I feel I'm still learning. Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he'll eventually make some kind of career for himself as a writer. Ray Bradbury, 1967 interview (Doing the Math - that means for every story he sold, he wrote six "un-publishable" ones. Keep typing!)
I never went to college, so I went to the library.
There must be something in books, something we canβt imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You donβt stay for nothing.
I think the sun is a flower, That blooms for just one hour.
The first thing a writer should be is - excited. He should be a thing of fevers and enthusiasms. Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it'd be better for his health.
You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.
The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it.
Ask yourself how many shots you would have saved if you always developed a strategy before you hit, always played within your capabilities, never lost you temper, and never got down on yourself.
Nothing is so easy as to deceive oneself; for what we wish, we readily believe.
I should like to use another word: 'audience' or 'reader' or 'listener' seems inadequate. I suggest the old word 'witness,' which includes the act of seeing and knowing by personal experience, as well as the act of giving evidence.
Where quality is the thing sought after, the thing of supreme quality is cheap, whatever the price one has to pay for it.
What you would seem to be, be really.
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