Growing into Novelhood
According to Don DeLillo, writer of Americana and Underworld – one has to grow into novelhood. He says: “I was a semiconscious writer in the beginning,” – “Just sat and wrote something, or read the newspaper, or went to the movies. Over time I began to understand, that the only way I’d get better was to be more serious, to understand the rigors of novel-writing and to make it central to my life, not a variation on some related career choice, like sports writing or playwriting.
The novel is different. . . . We die indoors, and alone. Eventually discipline no longer seemed something outside me. There’s no trick of meditation or self-mastery that brought it about. I got older, that’s all. I was not a born novelist (if anyone is). I had to grow into novelhood.”
I guess I’ll just have to keep practicing and grow into my novelhood.
Audio File: Growing Into Novelhood – (An Unleaded, Fuel for Writers Podcast)
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