When I learnt to write I became my own master, I became very strong, and that strength is with me to this very day.
V. S. NaipaulRead
I have trusted to my intuition to find the subjects, and I have written intuitively. I have an idea when I start, I have a shape; but I will fully understand what I have written only after some years.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of intuition in the creative process and acknowledges that true understanding of one's work comes with time.
In this quote, V. S. Naipaul reflects on the role of intuition in his writing. He suggests that while he has a clear vision and structure at the beginning of his creative process, the deeper meaning and significance of his work only become apparent to him after a significant passage of time. This highlights the fluid nature of artistic creation, where initial impulses may evolve and reveal their true essence over time.
Themes
IntuitionCreativityWritingArtistic ProcessUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at a writer’s workshop to inspire budding authors to trust their intuition.
More from V. S. Naipaul
All quotes →It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.
V. S. NaipaulRead
If you decide to move to another country and to live within its laws you don't express your disregard for the essence of the culture. It's a form of aggression.
V. S. NaipaulRead
One must always try to see the truth of a situation - it makes things universal.
V. S. NaipaulRead
His ignorance seemed to widen with everything he read.
V. S. NaipaulRead
I think when you see so many Hindu temples of the 10th century or earlier disfigured, defaced, you realise that something terrible happened. I feel the civilisation of that closed world was mortally wounded by those invasions the old world is destroyed. That has to be understood. Ancient Hindu India was destroyed.
V. S. NaipaulRead
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