Sylvia Patience, Author

I am reading John Gardner’s THE ART OF FICTION and, in spite of his academic style and extremely long paragraphs, I’m gleaning some excellent writing advice. I’m less than half way through the book, but I want to post this sentence:

“Slowly, patiently, with the patience that separates a Beethoven from men of equal genius but less divine stubbornness, the great writer builds the large, rockfirm thought that is his fiction.”

I love the “divine stubbornness”. I may not have the genius, but I sure have that other quality. I continue to learn, revise, and learn in the process. I am inspired by my reading and my critique partners’ comments. The writing continues to improve.