(Both gleaned from Volume II of collected Paris Review interviews - these collections belong in every writer’s library.)
“…I had, after reading Flaubert’s letters and the life stories of those writers I most admired, embraced the ethic of literary modernism that no serious writer can escape: to dedicate myself to art without expecting anything in return, to shun fame, success, and cheaply won popularity, to love literature for its own beauty.” – Orhan Pamuk
When asked if she makes changes in galleys, Eudora Welty replied:
“I correct or change words, but I can’t rewrite a scene or make a major change because there’s a sense then of someone looking over my shoulder. It’s necessary, anyway, to trust that moment when you were sure at last you had done all you could, done your best for that time. When it’s finally in print, you’re delivered—you don’t ever have to look at it again. It’s too late to worry about its failings. I’ll have to apply any lessons this book has taught me toward writing the next one.”
