I can't write...

This quote was sent to me by James R. Coggins

Max Braithwaite (The Night We Stole the Mountie’s Car, McClelland & Stewart, pb, 1969, 1975, 1990, p. 79) told of trying to write a novel for a year. He said: “I learned two things about myself: first, I was a writer, and second, I couldn’t write.”

What he meant was that he had not mastered all of the technical skills but that he was a born writer. He continued: “A writer is a certain type of person. He’s been described as ‘a watcher and a listener.’

Bernard Shaw said something about a writer seeing the world through different eyes. A writer is a person who pays attention, who ponders, who considers, who assesses. Nothing really escapes his notice.

He wonders why.

Why is that woman doing that? How did she get that way anyway? What would happen if she were to do this instead? A person is born with this faculty. It is part of his nature.”