If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
John UpdikeRead
Writing criticism is to writing fiction and poetry as hugging the shore is to sailing in the open sea.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Criticism serves a different purpose in writing compared to the creative act of fiction or poetry, much like the difference between staying close to safety and venturing into the unknown.
In this quote, John Updike emphasizes the distinction between writing criticism and creating fiction or poetry. He likens criticism to hugging the shore, suggesting that it is a safe, confined activity, while writing fiction is akin to sailing in the open sea, representing adventure, freedom, and the exploration of new ideas. This highlights that while both forms are valuable, they engage writers in different ways, with criticism grounded in analysis and the creative process venturing into uncharted territories of thought and emotion.
Themes
CriticismWritingFictionPoetryArtCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of exploring creative boundaries.
More from John Updike
All quotes βDost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. _x000D_ _x000D_ Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
John UpdikeRead
Museums and bookstores should feel, I think, like vacant lots - places where the demands on us are our own demands, where the spirit can find exercise in unsupervised play.
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But it is just two lovers, holding hands and in a hurry to reach their car, their locked hands a starfish leaping through the dark.
John UpdikeRead
The reader knows the writer better than he knows himself; but the writer's physical presence is light from a star that has moved on.
John UpdikeRead
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
John UpdikeRead
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