A literary kick in the pants. Reported by Reg Green
“Every writer I know has trouble writing,” Joseph Heller
If you too struggle, I hope this story from Frank Budgen’s book, “James Joyce and the Making of Ulysses,” will cheer you up.
Joyce, out walking one evening in Zurich, fell into conversation with Budgen, a friend, who asked about Ulysses., the book Joyce was writing at the time.
“”I’ve been working hard on it all day, ” said Joyce.
“Does that mean you’ve written a great deal?” Budgen said.
“Two sentences,” said Joyce.
If that makes you feel better about your own creativity, good, but it gets better still.
“I suppose you were seeking just the right words”, Budgen sympathized.
“No,” said Joyce. “I have the words already. What I am seeking is the perfect order of words in the sentence.”
