When I started writing poetry again after a 20-year silence, I didn't want to think too carefully about why things revved up again. And when I looked back, I couldn't tell if the silence was self-imposed or pressed on me. The confusion or indeterminate nature of the experience is probably why Peale's novel engrossed me. Emma is just 32 when she finally makes her move. I was 50. Art is a long apprenticeship -- but to what? Waiting, learning, then waiting some more. Listening for something. Anyway, I think this novel teaches in a shrewd way -- and can offer insight about not-making (the feel of that experience) to young writers beyond what the workshops may teach.
Here's a very good article by Joan Acocella about "why writers stop writing" -- from a 2004 issue of The New Yorker.
When I started writing
When I started writing poetry again after a 20-year silence, I didn't want to think too carefully about why things revved up again. And when I looked back, I couldn't tell if the silence was self-imposed or pressed on me. The confusion or indeterminate nature of the experience is probably why Peale's novel engrossed me. Emma is just 32 when she finally makes her move. I was 50. Art is a long apprenticeship -- but to what? Waiting, learning, then waiting some more. Listening for something. Anyway, I think this novel teaches in a shrewd way -- and can offer insight about not-making (the feel of that experience) to young writers beyond what the workshops may teach.
Here's a very good article by Joan Acocella about "why writers stop writing" -- from a 2004 issue of The New Yorker.