Skies are silver this morning and I'm emerging from the long holiday weekend with many tasks ahead this month, but also with determination to hold on to the quiet and peace of this season. As someone who is always doling out advice to writers, I love to note what other writers advise, especially those living in other times and places. With that in mind, here is wisdom from Vladimir Nabokov. I love what he has to say and suspect you will too.
Advice to A Young Writer
1.If possible, be Russian. And live in another country. Play chess. Be an active trader between languages. Carry precious metals from one to the other. Remind us of Stravinsky. Know the names of plants and flying creatures. Hunt gauzy wings with snares of gauze. Make science pay tribute. Have a butterfly known by your name.
2. Do not be awed by giant predecessors. Be ill-tempered with their renown. Point out flaws. Frighten interviewers from Time. Appear in Playboy. Sell to the movies.
3. Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin?
4. Delight in perversity. Put a noun into the dictionary. Now we recognize the Lolita at every corner, see her sucking sweetened milk through straws at every soda fountain, dream her through all our fantasies.
5. Burn pedants in pale fire. Accept no fashions. Be your own fashion. Do not rely on earlier triumphs. Be new at each appearance.
6. Age indomitably, in the European manner. Do not finish your labours young. Be a planet, not a meteor. Honor the working day. Sit at your desk."
Showing posts with label Nabokov. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nabokov. Show all posts
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