I've been an advocate against the view of the writer as a partitioned genius hanging in conceptual space, or up on a mountain, a bringer of Promethean fire, some unique transmission that comes out of nowhere. I prefer the opposite view - that writers come from somewhere. They read things, and they think about them, and they incorporate other people's thoughts.
Jonathan LethemSo much of the effort that goes into writing prose for me is about making sentences that capture the music that I'm hearing in my head. It takes a lot of work, writing, writing, and rewriting to get the music exactly the way you want it to be.
Jonathan LethemListen to me. Iโm shy. Iโm not stupid. I canโt meet peopleโs eyes. I donโt know if you understand what thatโs like. Thereโs a whole world going on around me, Iโm aware of that. Itโs not because I donโt want to look at you, Lucinda. Itโs that I donโt want to be seen.
Jonathan LethemI had always wanted to be a writer who confused genre boundaries and who was read in multiple contexts.
Jonathan Lethem