#160

“I have never written about things as they happened. All my works are indeed chapters from my most personal experience, but nevertheless they are not “the story of my life.” The things that happened to me in my life have already happened, they are already formed, and time has kneaded them and give them shape. To write things as they happened means to enslave oneself to memory, which is only a minor element in the creative process. To my mind, to create means to order, sort out, and choose the words and pace that fit the work. The materials are indeed materials from one's life, but ultimately the creation is an independent creature” (Roth, 2002: 27).

ROTH, Philip (2002). Shop Talk. London: Vintage.