Having the urge to write a novel, especially if you've yet to be published, is like having a medical condition impossible to mention in polite company - it's a relief simply to know there are fellow-sufferers out there.
Interpretation
Writing a novel can feel isolating and burdensome, yet knowing others share this struggle can be comforting.
In this quote, Robert Harris compares the desire to write a novel to a discreet medical condition, suggesting that the longing and challenges faced by aspiring authors are often taboo or difficult to discuss openly. The relief of knowing that others experience similar struggles fosters a sense of camaraderie among writers, making the journey feel less lonely and more validating.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a writer's workshop to encourage aspiring authors.
If one tries to think about history, it seems to me - it's like looking at a range of mountains. And the first time you see them, they look one way. But then time changes, the pattern of light shifts. Maybe you've moved slightly, your perspective has changed. The mountains are the same, but they look very different.
To tell a good story and to illuminate the world: the two things are completely linked. That is the point. That is what I've always wanted to do.
Music has charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they are the eternal symbols upon which we must fall back to express basic psychological ideas.
There is something about riding a unicorn, for those people who still can, which is unlike any other experience: exhilarating, and intoxicating, and fine.
I haven't stopped painting or drawing - I've just added another medium.
The musical has always been in jeopardy - until - or was in jeopardy until it was realised that it is probably the safest living theatre art form.
See, a painting is much cheaper than making a film. And photography is, you know, way cheap. So if I get an idea for a film, there are many ways to get it together and go realise that film. There's really nothing to be afraid of.
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