“As Soon As I Hit That Block Where You Go ‘This Is Awful!’…

From “The Spring From Which Stories Flow,” about English writer Jack Thorne, by Michael Paulson in the New York Times:

Writing has become a sort of compulsion — a craft that brings him not only joy, but calm. “I find as soon as I start writing other people, I become better,” he said. “It’s that and the sea — those are the two things that sort me out.”

What do writing and ocean swimming have in common? “I think it’s being completely on your own,” he said. “When I’m swimming in the sea, I go way out. And I think writing is quite similar.”

He estimates that he has written about 40 plays, and is often creating three things simultaneously, switching from one to another whenever he gets stuck. “I can’t cope with doing only one thing at once,” he said. “As soon as I hit that block where you go, ‘This is awful! Why would you consider yourself a writer?,’ it’s really nice to be able to swap onto another project and go, ‘Well, this is all right.’”