Extrait :
No, we don’t need the good old days. If we’ve growing up a bit as writers—meeting the occasional deadline, listening now and then to critique—so much the better. But professionalism too has a dark side. It helps us finish our stories, but it doesn’t help us find them. Today we make a conscious thing of our writing, compartmentalizing the challenges and honing our various skills as conscientiously as future Olympians in the gym. We shape worlds. We think through magic. We keep our prose nimble, dance through points of view, master questions of timing and suspense. We know the how as never before, but we’re in danger of losing our grip on the why, and even the what. Novels are—entertainments? Certainly. Inventions? Yup. Stories too long to read in one sitting? Usually. Challenges put quietly to the reader’s soul?
Um. Ah. Gotta go now. You’re weirding me out.