Writing Tips

The Qualities and Duty of A Great Writer

Lessons from Zadie Smith on authenticity, betrayal, and failure in writing

Image by Thought Catalog from Unsplash

In her essay “Fail Better”, Zadie Smith gives us “The tale of Clive”. Clive aspires to write the perfect novel, and seems to have all the skills to do it:

“He’s intelligent and well read; he’s made a…