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There are no wrong books. What’s wrong is the fear of them.

Bernard Malamud

First drafts are for learning what your novel or story is about. Revision is working with that knowledge to enlarge and enhance an idea, to re-form it….
BERNARD MALAMUD

Book Firsts Ideas
Comedy, I imagine, is harder to do consistently than tragedy, but I like it spiced in the wine of sadness.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Sadness Tragedy Wine
A man has to construct, invent, his freedom.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Constructs Freedom Invent Men
If the stories come, you get them written, you’re on the right track. Eventually everyone learns his or her own best way. The real mystery to crack is you.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Cracks Eventually Mystery Real Track
How one works, assuming he’s disciplined, doesn’t matter.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Assuming Discipline Matter Works
If your train’s on the wrong track every station you come to is the wrong station.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Stations Track Train
The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Baseball Mythology Quality
Politics isn’t in my nature.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Nature Politics Work
Those who write about life, reflect about life. you see in others who you are.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Who You Are Writing
I love metaphor. It provides two loaves where there seems to be one. Sometimes it throws in a load of fish.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Metaphor Sometimes Two
For misery don’t blame God. He gives the food but we cook it.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Blame Giving Misery
A man had to learn, it was his nature.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Learning Men Nature
Children were strangers you loved because you could love. If they gave back love when they were grown you were ahead of the game.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Back Children Games Love
The idea is to get the pencil moving quickly.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Ideas Moving Writing
You write by sitting down and writing. There’s no particular time or place—you suit yourself, your nature.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Down Sitting Writing
You can’t eat language but it eases thirst.
BERNARD MALAMUD

Ease Language Thirst

There are no wrong books. What’s wrong is the fear of them.

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There are no wrong books. What’s wrong is the fear of them.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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