After the first shock of recognition - a sudden sense of "this is what I'm going to write" - the novel starts to breed by itself; the process goes on solely in the mind, not on paper. I feel a kind of gentle development, an uncurling inside, and I know that the details are there already, that in fact I would see them plainly if I looked closer, but I prefer to wait until what is loosely called inspiration has completed the task for me.


Strong opinions (ed. McGraw-Hill Companies, 1973)

Vladimir Nabokov Quotes

After the first shock of recognition - a sudden sense of this is what I'm going to write - the novel starts to breed by itself; the process goes on...

After the first shock of recognition - a sudden sense of this is what I'm going to write - the novel starts to breed by itself; the process goes on...

After the first shock of recognition - a sudden sense of this is what I'm going to write - the novel starts to breed by itself; the process goes on...

After the first shock of recognition - a sudden sense of this is what I'm going to write - the novel starts to breed by itself; the process goes on...