FOWLES (John) Typed letter signed, 2pp., 8vo, Lyme Regis, Dorset, 29th July 1987, to Julie Reed.

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FOWLES (John) Typed letter signed, 2pp., 8vo, Lyme Regis, Dorset, 29th July 1987, to Julie Reed. Fowles offers his thoughts on how a person becomes an author, and how they find their inspiration to write, ‘I think the reasons that a person becomes an author are generally so complex and mysterious that one cannot intelligently say much about it, and the reasons themselves can be very different. Plainly some natural ability helps, although I think myself that certain psychological situations (over which none of us has any control) are necessary……The Americans have worked out a theory where books (novels) really spring from a lack or sense of loss in the author. I am sympathetic to that notion. I certainly don’t think you can ‘decide’ to be a novelist……I also do not have much faith in the so-called ‘creative writing’ schools, which allegedly teach you how to write novels and poetry. Yes, inspiration, or some experience like it, is essential for all writers. This means you have to be patient, and wait till such moments come. Certainly one such moment usually begins a book…..Another kind of inspiration comes during the writing. It is all very mysterious, almost enough to make one believe in the old Greek legend of the Muses, and I know absolutely no way of inducing it artificially – alcohol, drugs, ‘meditation’, all the rest.’