{"id":3881,"date":"2023-08-25T21:59:48","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T01:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/albert-camus-on-writing-and-the-importance-of-stubbornness-in-creative-work-the-marginalian\/"},"modified":"2023-08-25T21:59:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T01:59:48","slug":"albert-camus-on-writing-and-the-importance-of-stubbornness-in-creative-work-the-marginalian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/albert-camus-on-writing-and-the-importance-of-stubbornness-in-creative-work-the-marginalian\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Camus on Writing and the Importance of Stubbornness in Creative Work \u2013 The Marginalian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Lyrical-Critical-Essays-Albert-Camus\/dp\/0394708520\/?tag=braipick-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"263\" height=\"388\" class=\"cover alignright size-medium jetpack-lazy-image\" alt=\"Albert Camus on Writing and the Importance of Stubbornness in Creative Work\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/albertcamus_essays.jpg?w=263&amp;ssl=1 263w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/albertcamus_essays.jpg?resize=240%2C354&amp;ssl=1 240w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/albertcamus_essays.jpg?fit=263%2C388&amp;ssl=1&amp;is-pending-load=1\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Three years after he became the second-youngest laureate of the Nobel Prize, awarded him for literature that \u201cwith clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience,\u201d <strong>Albert Camus<\/strong> (November 7, 1913\u2013January 4, 1960) died in a car crash with an unused train ticket to the same destination in his pocket. The writings he left behind \u2014 about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2015\/12\/28\/albert-camus-almond-trees-character\/\">the key to strength of character<\/a>, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2018\/05\/02\/albert-camus-create-dangerously\/\">creativity as resistance<\/a>, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2017\/07\/24\/albert-camus-interview-absurd\/\">the antidotes to the absurdity of life<\/a>, about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2014\/09\/22\/a-life-worth-living-albert-camus\/\">happiness as our moral obligation<\/a> \u2014 endure as a living testament to Mary Shelley\u2019s conviction that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2020\/07\/03\/mary-shelley-words-lodore\/\">\u201cit is by words that the world\u2019s great fight, now in these civilized times, is carried on.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"457\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-61954 jetpack-lazy-image\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=240%2C161&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=320%2C215&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=768%2C516&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=600%2C404&amp;ssl=1 600w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=680%2C457&amp;is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1\"\/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazy-fallback=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=680%2C457&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"457\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-61954\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=240%2C161&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=320%2C215&amp;ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=768%2C516&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themarginalian.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/albertcamus.jpg?resize=600%2C404&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Albert Camus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Camus addressed his views on writing most directly in a 1943 essay about the novel, included in his altogether indispensable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Lyrical-Critical-Essays-Albert-Camus\/dp\/0394708520\/?tag=braipick-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em>Lyrical and Critical Essays<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/lyrical-and-critical-essays\/oclc\/160250&amp;referer=brief_results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>public library<\/em><\/a>). <\/p>\n<p>He reflects:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>One must be two persons when one writes\u2026 The great problem is to translate what one feels into what one wants others to feel. We call a writer bad when he expresses himself in reference to an inner context the reader cannot know. The mediocre writer is thus led to say anything he pleases.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In a sentiment James Baldwin would echo in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2016\/02\/08\/james-baldwin-advice-on-writing\/\">his advice on writing<\/a>, insisting that \u201cbeyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance,\u201d Camus observes that all creative endeavor demands of us \u201ca certain constancy of soul, and a human and literary knowledge of sacrifice.\u201d He writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>To someone who asked Newton how he had managed to construct his theory, he could reply: \u201cBy thinking about it all the time.\u201d There is no greatness without a little stubbornness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Nearly a century after Tchaikovsky asserted that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2012\/07\/24\/tchaikovsky-on-work-ethic-vs-inspiration\/\">\u201ca self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,\u201d<\/a> Camus adds:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Great novels\u2026 prove the effectiveness of human creation. They convince one that the work of art is a human thing, never human enough, and that its creator can do without dictates from above. Works of art are not born in flashes of inspiration but in a daily fidelity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Complement with more excellent advice on writing from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2019\/01\/14\/mary-oliver-advice-on-writing\/\">Mary Oliver<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2017\/08\/28\/rachel-carson-house-of-life-writing-loneliness\/\">Rachel Carson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2023\/01\/07\/maya-angelou-writing\/\">Maya Angelou<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2016\/05\/25\/upstairs-at-the-strand-george-saunders\/\">George Saunders<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2016\/04\/01\/john-steinbeck-east-of-eden-journal-letters\/\">John Steinbeck<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2016\/01\/04\/with-hemingway-arnold-samuelson-writing\/\">Ernest Hemingway<\/a>, then revisit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarginalian.org\/2014\/11\/19\/albert-camus-letter-teacher\/\">beautiful letter of gratitude<\/a> Camus sent to his childhood teacher shortly after receiving the Nobel Prize.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hop.clickbank.net\/?affiliate=infohatch&amp;vendor=J1R2C\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10614 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png\" alt=\"Profit Gen\" width=\"400\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px.png 400w, https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/profit-gen400px-300x163.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three years after he became the second-youngest laureate of the Nobel Prize, awarded him for literature that \u201cwith clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-purpose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}