Wednesday, August 8, 2012

"The Problem, Properly Understood = The Solution"

Who says Facebook isn’t worthwhile?  I stole this off writer Matt Bell’s page today:

"The solution to a problem—a story that you are unable to finish—is the problem. It isn’t as if the problem is one thing and the solution something else. The problem, properly understood = the solution. Instead of trying to hide or efface what limits the story, capitalize on that very limitation. State it, rail against it." —Susan Sontag
 
I’m slowly working my way into and through a revision of a long story that isn’t pulled together, and this is exactly what I need to be thinking about.  And others seem to have been inspired, too:  writer Juliana Baggott also included the quote on her blog today, also taken from Matt Bell’s Facebook page!  I take heart in knowing there are so many writers are out there, coaxing the muse and battling the demons.  We are not alone.

Work-in-Progress

DC-area author Leslie Pietrzyk explores the creative process and all things literary.