Friday, March 3, 2023

Baldwin's advice about writing

 Not long ago, my friend Christopher and I were talking about writing and writing advice. We both admired this observation from James Baldwin:

“Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say. If you are going to be a writer there is nothing I can say to stop you. If you’re not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you.”

The hard part, when you are young, is that bit about finding a way to keep alive. At least it was for me. Hard, not impossible.

• Source: “James Baldwin: The Art of Fiction No. 78,” interviewed by Jordan Elgrably; The Paris Review, Issue 91, Spring 1984.

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