Writers on Writing: Ian McEwan on Finding Confidence

In this interview, award-winning and bestselling novelist Ian McEwan reveals his own challenges to find his writing confidence, and his approach of "writing his way into" a novel to find the confidence that allows his creativity and talents to flow.

[smallwhitebearsgoforward]

"Sometimes I think I don't like writing. I really hate it. . ." Let everyone struggling with a manuscript remember those words from a writer as accomplished as Ian McEwan.

[mcd]

One of the most honest, inspiring and "real" interviews I've ever seen a great writer give about the true nature and brutal difficulty of the writing process. To see a writer of his calibre honestly admit that just because you did it once, doesn't mean you can do it again, just demonstrates how hard really good writing is to do once, let alone time and again. And it also shows how brilliant the truly great writers are, who can do it time and again.

[samanthas]

Vindication! He explains perfectly what writing feels like. It’s a love/hate.

[Writtenmirror]

I feel a lot of what he's saying. I was nodding my head the whole way through. 

[saturnn]

I read just the first couple of Paragraphs of Atonement and conclude that this person has a very nice writing style. Even when the subject is not the liking, it is hard to stop reading when the writing is so well done. It had a very nice flow for what I read. That is as important to writing as ideas are.

[jimcameron]

I really liked how the interviewer was wanting to cheer, "My Captain, My Captain" in the face of a guy who could clearly - with enough alcohol and maybe some speed - walk himself off the ship's plank head first into the ocean. Early on the interviewer reminds the author of how many books the author has written, how accomplished he is and what amazing skill he has. Again, the sober balanced author as he is, took only some of the bait, but if you took some of the classic hell raising authors - fill in the blank - they would continue on the path made available to them articulate descriptions of self-description. As it was Ian just scratched the surface because I am guessing he less likely to be bouts of creative instability.