Erica Jong on Writing

“I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.”

“Blocks usually stem from fear of being judged. If you imagine the world is listening, you'll never write a line.”

“Critics write out of intellectual exercise, not poets. Poets write straight from the heart.”

“You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

“It's easier to write about pain than about joy. Joy is wordless.”

“What a damnably lonely profession writing is! In order to do it, one must banish the world, and having banished it, one feels cosmically alone.”

More from Erica Jong