In an interview with Lit Hub, Ruth Ozeki (A Book of Form and Emptiness) shares some of the best advice she’s received about the writing life.
“Karen Joy Fowler told me, ‘You can only be the writer you are.’ I found this very helpful because it took away some of my anxiety at not being a better writer, or a different writer, or any writer other than me. It reassured me that the writer I am is enough, at least for now, because this is what’s possible for me now.
To some extent, the tension between the writer I am, and the writer I aspire to be, is useful. Tension can be motivating. Tension can be generative, and in fact, maybe creative acts require it…But too much of this aspirational tension can be distracting. You have to find a way of relaxing in that tension, and that’s what Karen’s advice reminds me to do.”
