This struck a chord with me:

You can't start writing until you know what you're doing, and you don't know what you're doing until you start writing. I still have to resist the false intuition that I need to know as much as possible in advance. The essential thing is to know as little as possible. Ideally, when things fall out well, you shouldn't feel clever, you should feel lucky.

Tom Stoppard in yesterday's Guardian. The bit about feeling lucky if things work out especially.

Soooo true, bless him. Thanks for flagging that up, Roger. Is the whole thing online, do you know?

Emma

Oh yes, sorry, it's here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/06/stoppard.theatre

Thanks for that. Fascinating article.

I especially liked . . .

In The Coast of Utopia, when someone says of Ivan Turgenev's novels, "so you don't take sides?" the novelist responds, "I take every possible side."

That's the writer's job, isn't it?

~Rod.

I like this, too:

A writer ought to be the best possible source about their work," he says, "but the writing instinct doesn't come out of self-examination. That part of yourself in your work is expressed willy-nilly, without your cooperation, motivation or collusion. You can't help being what you write and writing what you are.

Emma

Ah, I've always liked Stoppard. Thanks for flagging up the article, roger.



- NaomiM

Thanks Roger

Sarah

Tom Stoppard and the two girls who didn't show up.

Many years ago, my brother and I went to see Jumpers, starring Felicity Kendall. We had a third ticket for a girl who didn't turn up, so I sold it to a middle-aged man in a raincoat. In those days Felicity was considered to be the "thinking man's crumpet" and the devoted fan was bouncing up and down and telling me how much he loved her as I took his twenty pound note. While he was thanking me I spotted a sign directly behind him saying, we apologize that Felicity Kendall's part will be played by A.N Other. The man shifted noisily about in his seat throughout the performance. He grunted angrily whenever the understudy came onto the stage. It was agony; but I couldn't afford not to sell the ticket.

Tee-hee, Rainstop!


Thanks for flagging that up. Loved the article too.

Thanks for this - Stoppard's great. "Arcadia" is my absolute fav.

Thanks for the post. My hurdle is always believing "I don't know enough yet!" Maybe I should believe Mr Stoppard when he says :

"you don't know what you're doing until you start writing"

. He's right, for sure.
Di2

Yes, thanks for posting that, Roger.
Kath