Adding a human element to the literature

    One thing I took away from Roth talking was that writing still isn't "easy" for him. Obviously, he has a natural inclination towards it and comes out with some pretty great results, but he is human just like the rest of us and still struggles to create something that he finds worthy. I find that I feel a similar way about music composition -- the thing that I am majoring in. It is what I am most talented in, work the hardest for, and the art that I have been the most successful in creating. But when people ask if it comes "easy" to me? Hell no. Writing a good piece of music is one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced, and the better I become at it the more difficult it becomes.
    I felt that Roth had a similar notion towards writing, particularly when he admits that he still has no clue how to start a story. He has created beautiful, successful pieces of writing that brim with confidence and control over the language. But he didn't sit down and just have it all flow out. This confident, lucid language that he has created came from hours of discarded sentences and irritably rewritten paragraphs until he finally came up with something that he is satisfied with. This is one reason it is so nice to hear the author talk after finishing his book. It shows the human element that goes into a work of art or literature. I find that when I have finished a piece, I will go back and listen to the complicated counterpoint and harmonies and wonder "how the hell did I write this? It must've been a fluke. I'll never be able to do this again." Even something that I have done myself seems inaccessible and unrealistic to create viewed as a listener, but when I start on a new project and fight through dozens of deleted work and struggle with it for hours and hours, something beautiful (at least in my eyes) miraculously emerges.
     So, hearing Roth talk about how he writes was a great way to understand the process that a successful writer goes through. How, no matter his talent or achievement, he still struggles to craft a story and portray the language in a way that he is happy with.