Maurice Sendak on art, inspiration, and creation
“Artists have to take a dive, and either you hit your head on a rock and you split your skull and you die, or that blow to the head is so inspiring that you come back up and do the best work that you ever did…but you have to take the dive, and you do not know what the result will be.”
Or just click to hear the author of Where The Wild Things Are say “Go to hell.”
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Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I guess what we do as writers is like taking a dive and not knowing the outcome. I hadn’t thought of that Hayley. Thank you for that analogy! :)
It struck a chord with me when he said how strange the world is when we are children, mystical and magical. I suddenly remembered how you really can’t figure anything out when you’re little, you just keep going from moment to moment. Then as Maurice Sendak pointed out, really that’s how life always is. We have to trust, because we can’t figure out purpose. We can look to the author and artist to offer an explanation for us.
Maurice Sendak is certainly a curmudgeon, His love of Blake is something that he can’t fully understand and even can’t fully understand the works he reads.
The theme of Sendak’s life seems to be, at least in this interview, of searching around, doing the dive and coming up ever more mystified yet more creative with each surfacing.
I am gtntieg seriously excited for Wrockstock. 3 days! NaNoWriMo isn't going quite as well but I am going to change up the way I write and that should help. I will make it this year. I would love a brief summary of your story if you're willing to give it.