I read about writers who have routines. They write at certain times of the day. I can't do that. I am always writing-but in my head.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the individuality of the creative process, emphasizing that inspiration can come at any time and does not conform to a schedule.
Jamaica Kincaid reflects on the personal nature of writing and creativity, suggesting that while some writers thrive on structured routines, her own inspiration is an ongoing internal dialogue. She implies that creativity isn't bound by time or traditional methods, but rather exists continuously in the mind, demonstrating the unique ways artists connect with their craft.
In practice
This quote could be used in a writing workshop to inspire aspiring writers about the varying methods of creativity.
Something settiled inside me, something heavy and hard. It stayed there, and i could not think of one thing to make it go away. I thought, So this must be living, this must be the beginning of the time people later refer to as 'years ago, when I was young'.
Gardeners (or just plain simple writers who write about the garden) always have something they like intensely and in particular, right at the moment you engage them in the reality of the borders they cultivate, the space in the garden they occupy at any moment, they like in particular this, or they like in particular that.
I have no credentials. I have no money. I literally come from a poor place. I was a servant. I dropped out of college. The next thing you know I'm writing for the 'New Yorker,' I have this sort of life, and it must seem annoying to people.
I didn't think of myself as an outsider because of my race because... where I grew up I was the same race as almost everyone else... It is true that I noticed things that no one else seemed to notice. And I think only people who are outsiders do this.
I come from a little island with the Caribbean Sea on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. I come from, really, nowhere, and for me, the fiction and the nonfiction, creative or otherwise, all come from the same place.
The English language started out as a distortion in my life, but nothing remains the same, and so the distortion is now just normal. That is one of the things that will happen to all distortions: They become normal and turn into something else.
The darkest day in a man's career is that wherein he fancies there is some easier way of getting a dollar than by squarely earning it.
To-morrow I will live, the fool does say;_x000D_ _x000D_ To-day itself's too late, the wise lived yesterday.
Be able to be alone. Lose not the advantage of solitude.
We have all got to exert ourselves a little to keep sane, and call things by the same names as other people call them by.
To invent out of knowledge means to produce inventions that are true. Every man should have a built-in automatic crap detector operating inside him. It also should have a manual drill and a crank handle in case the machine breaks down. If you're going to write, you have to find out what's bad for you. Part of that you learn fast, and then you learn what's good for you.
What's done can't be undone, but at least you can keep it from happening again.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.