WRITING IS A CRAFT. It is learnt in the way that cabinet-making is learnt, or a musical instrument is learnt, which is to say by practice and the often effortful acquisition of technique. In his brilliant recent book The Craftsman, Richard Sennett estimates that it takes 10,000 hours to learn to play the violin well or to make an admirable cabinet. It takes even longer to become a writer, because before you become a writer you must first become a reader. Every hour spent reading is an hour spent learning to write; this continues to be true throughout a writer’s career.
You don’t ...
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