It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper.
Rod SerlingRead
Writing is a demanding profession and a selfish one. And because it is selfish and demanding, because it is compulsive and exacting, I didn't embrace it. I succumbed to it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing is challenging and requires personal sacrifice, often consuming the writer's life.
Rod Serling's quote reflects the intense and often consuming nature of the writing profession. He acknowledges that writing is not only a demanding craft requiring significant commitment and effort but also one that can be seen as selfish, as it often prioritizes personal expression and creativity over other aspects of life. This tension between embracing the art and succumbing to its demands highlights the struggle that many writers face in balancing their passion with the sacrifices it entails.
Themes
WritingProfessionSelfishnessDemandsArtCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, to emphasize the challenges of creativity, I might say this quote by Rod Serling.
More from Rod Serling
All quotes →It may be said with a degree of assurance that not everything that meets the eye is as it appears.
Rod SerlingRead
It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms - all of them - may remain intact. And it is then that writing becomes a weapon of truth, an article of faith, an act of courage.
Rod SerlingRead
Some people possess talent, others are possessed by it. When that happens, a talent becomes a curse.
Rod SerlingRead
Every writer is a frustrated actor who recites his lines in the hidden auditorium of his skull.
Rod SerlingRead
Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.
Rod SerlingRead
Similar quotes
Writers remember everything...especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he'll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar. Art consists of the persistence of memory.
Stephen KingRead
Technique does not constitute art. Nor is it a vague, fuzzy romantic quality known as ‘beauty,’ remote from the realities of everyday life. It is the depth and intensity of an artist’s experience that are the first importance in art.
Grant WoodRead
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
Franklin D. RooseveltRead
Poetry is not truth, it is the resurrection of presences.
Octavio PazRead
First, I try to take everything away that doesn't matter to singing. It sounds simplistic, but it works. There is absolute focus on singing: producing sounds and emotions that I have always enjoyed. This is key.
Johnny MathisRead
I see no reason for calling my work poetry except that there is no other category in which to put it.
Marianne MooreRead