Carolina QuotesWilliam Blackburn [i.e. one of William Styron's teachers] cared about writing and had an almost holy concern for the langage. Before too long my work got much better. I sweated like a coolie over my essays, themes and fledgling short stories until my splintered syntax and humpbacked prose achieved a measure of clarity and grace. He informed me that one could not become a writer without a great deal of reading. To write one must read, he repeated, read . . . He was unquestionably a glorious teacher. I deeply miss him. It helped immeasurably to have him tell me, at the age of twenty-one, that I could become a writer.
William Styron Connected to the Carolinas
Source
Section, 'William Blackburn' [From Duke Encounters. Durham: Duke University Office of Publications, 1977] - p.275, 276, 277, 278
- work
- This Quiet Dust and Other Writings (1982)
- year
- 1977
- locator
- p.275
Cite this record
“William Blackburn [i.e. one of William Styron's teachers] ca…” William Styron. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-855297C74B. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/855297c74b
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