How writers work

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I read a helluva lot...

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How writers work

Philip Roth Writer

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61. Sex in the '50s		468	04:41
62. Memories of World War II		397	04:55
63. The Korean War		301	01:45
64. Fear and Indignation		279	00:24
65. My father wanted me to be a lawyer		309	03:37
66. How writers work		740	01:02
67. I read a helluva lot...		729	01:32
68. Influences? Saul Bellow and Augie March	1	1257	04:56
69. Writing from my own experience		502	01:44
70. Finding a voice - and using what I knew		523	03:32

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There are the writers who work hard and continuously, and there are the writers who don't work hard and continuously, and for whatever reason. And I was one of those who worked hard and continuously. I... I just applied the same ethic I had applied to my work at college, and as a kid even, I suppose. And I said earlier, I liked school, I like that kind of work. I liked looking at that frieze along the top of the classroom that says, A a, B b, C c. I wanted to be around letters and words and... and solving the problems of how to put them together. That started very, very, very, young.

The fame of the American writer Philip Roth (1933-2018) rested on the frank explorations of Jewish-American life he portrayed in his novels. There is a strong autobiographical element in much of what he wrote, alongside social commentary and political satire. Despite often polarising critics with his frequently explicit accounts of his male protagonists' sexual doings, Roth received a great many prestigious literary awards which include a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1997, and the 4th Man Booker International Prize in 2011.

Title: How writers work

Listeners: Christopher Sykes

Christopher Sykes is an independent documentary producer who has made a number of films about science and scientists for BBC TV, Channel Four, and PBS.

Tags: hard work, continuous, profession, applying experiences

Duration: 1 minute, 2 seconds

Date story recorded: March 2011

Date story went live: 18 March 2013