I think the trouble with artists or chefs who whine about criticism is that if you love the good reviews, you have to at least read the bad ones.
Jim HarrisonRead
The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is don't do it unless you're willing to give your whole life to it. Red wine and garlic also helps.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing requires total dedication and commitment to be successful.
Jim Harrison emphasizes the profound commitment needed for aspiring writers. He suggests that writing is not just a casual endeavor but one that demands the writer's entire devotion and passion. The humorous addition of 'red wine and garlic' adds a lighthearted touch, indicating that while dedication is crucial, small pleasures can also enhance the experience.
Themes
WritingDedicationCommitmentAdvicePassion
In practice
Example use cases
A writing workshop where the speaker encourages participants to fully immerse themselves in their craft.
More from Jim Harrison
All quotes βHow wonderful it was to love something without the compromise of language.
Jim HarrisonRead
We are delightfully trapped by our memories. I can't drink a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieux Telegraphe without revisiting a hotel bistro in Luzerne, Switzerland, where I ate a large bowl of a peppery Basque baby goat stew. A sip and a bite. A bite and sip. Goose bumps come with the divine conjunction of food and wine.
Jim HarrisonRead
Fiction writers tend to err either making people more than they are or less than they are. I'd rather err on the side of the former.
Jim HarrisonRead
Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend.
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I work every morning, all morning, sometimes in the afternoons. Then sometimes I hunt in the afternoons - quail, doves, grouse up north - but just to stay alive, because writers die from their lifestyle but also from their lack of movement.
Jim HarrisonRead
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I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time itβs really useless.
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A few can touch the magic string, and noisy fame is proud to win them: Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them!
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When people are deprived of a sense, their other senses get heightened. If you're culturally devoid of something - of weather, of artistry, of interesting architecture, all the way down the line to culture itself - you're either forced to give in and get that car dealership, or you manufacture those things for yourself.
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When the script is finished, and you're sitting around at a table read, and all the actors are reading the words that you've written, and you're hearing it out loud for the first time, that is always, every single time, no matter what, a magical process.
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