Modern Library: Writer's Workshop

Productivity is the only path to confidence. The young William Kennedy studied writing with the young Saul Bellow. "Bellow," Kennedy recalls, "also talked about being prodigal. He said that a writer shouldn't be parsimonious with his work, but 'prodigal, like nature.'" Curiously, Chekov once remarked that his brother Aleksandr had "written himself out "by producing not too much, but too little. This is not an empty paradox. Since writing is what generates inspiration-and not the reverse-abundant writing produces abundant inspiration. The two most dangerous enemies of a young writer's productivity are his or her mismanagement of time and an undue vulnerability to self-doubt and self-criticism. Both must be dealt with firmly. Paul Johnson is right: "A bad novel is better than an unwritten novel, because a bad novel can be improved; an unwritten novel is defeat without a battle. A writer as long as he lives faces the difficulty of striking a balance between an overcritical view of his work and complacency. In my view, a young writer should err on the side of complacency while he is writing, then sit in judgment afterwards. He must keep the typewriter going, and watch the pile of blank pages on his right gradually diminish and filled pages on his left arise. Thereby he acquires confidence, and in writing, as in all art, confidence is the beginning of skill."


~ Stephen Koch