I write in the morning at a table, longhand on yellow legal pads, just like Nixon, when I’m doing fiction.
Interpretation
Gore Vidal emphasizes the importance of a specific writing routine and medium that resonates with his creative process.
In this quote, Gore Vidal reflects on his approach to writing fiction, highlighting the simplicity and authenticity of writing longhand on yellow legal pads in the morning. By comparing his method to that of Richard Nixon, he invokes a sense of nostalgia and seriousness, suggesting that the act of writing is both a disciplined craft and a personal ritual that allows for creative expression.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to inspire students about the creative process.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through time and changes taking place, and that's what we call 'the plot'.
Nothing is contrived. At night, the clothes should pour like liquid over the body.
A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it.
The essence of dramatic form is to let an idea come over people without it being plainly stated. When you say something directly, it's simply not as potent as it is when you allow people to discover it for themselves.
Art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass.
You have to appreciate the spiritual component of having an opportunity to do something as wondrous as writing. You should be practical and smart and you should have a good agent and you should work really, really hard. But you should also be filled with awe and gratitude about this amazing way to be in the world.
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