"Pursewarden once, speaking about writing, told me that the pain that accompanied composition was entirely due, in artists, to the fear of madness."
Balderdash! Pursewarden was mistaken on two counts. First of all, writing is not painful for those of us who know what we want to say. It is a glorious and soul-freeing experience. The discomfort of some writers is a pose meant to impress others with their suffering for their art. And, secondly, the fear of madness is no more acute in artists than it is in anyone else. This belief is just another conceit to single oneself out as somebody special and worthy of some kind of reverence and admiration by ordinary mortals. Madness is universal and not the special province of creative people. And, it exists entirely in the eyes of the beholder.
In this image of author Harriet Holt Dey (nicknamed "Chickering Carter"), 1865-1922, we see her seated at her typewriter. She published a story titled "Mining for Gold in Human Hearts" in "The People's Home Journal" in February, 1914. Ms. Dey appears neither in pain nor mad, but comfortable, even happy, and completely in her right mind.
Lawrence Durrell; Balthazar; E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., New York,1958; Page 17.
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