If I had the speed and fluidity of, say, Terry Teachout, I might have finished a spate of non-Rifftides writing assignments sooner–and a book or two on the side. As it is, there’s a good chance that I’ll return to blogging this very week.
Learn to write well, or not to write at all.–John Dryden, Essay on Satire
Coleridge was a drug addict. Poe was an alcoholic. Marlowe was killed by a man whom he was treacherously trying to stab. Pope took money to keep a woman’s name out of a satire then wrote a piece so that she could still be recognized anyhow. Chatterton killed himself. Byron was accused of incest. Do you still want to a writer – and if so, why?–Bennett Cerf
A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.–Thomas Mann