The following Virgina Woolf how-to-write-a-novel item was composed in the usual fashion; that is, it's based on words and phrases and ideas scoured from Virginia Woolf's diaries. Despite the inclusion of the overconfident adjective blessed it is not intended to be sacrilege and shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Breakdown in miniature
The story shall run fast and free
Not poke in dusty holes and corners.
The circle should be complete each time
And the blessed thing brought to an end.
Barker's pins have no points to them!
You want to buy carpets, pots and chairs
You want to have fifty pounds in the Bank.
The material is not so rich as it was!
Don't doubt that the theme will be good or bad
Don't flog your brains all afternoon
Now write the greatest book in the world
It's only a question of getting up steam.
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gw2009
Not taken seriously but love it. I keep meaning to try this kind of thing again, so watch this space.
ReplyDeleteThat poetry thingy you are going to which starts at night and ends in the morning sounds like a good excuse for a rave up to me. I am afraid my staying up all night days (if I can call them such!) are long past. Eleven o'clock and jim jams are called for.
To me Woolf's diaries, with her curious turns of phrase and her society leanings are a poetic apothecary. I'd love to open all her bottles. Who's afraid, eh?
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