My encounter with Haruki Murakami happened six years back. I wanted to get into running. His book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” helped. I have read half a dozen other works of his. I always questioned his mental state while writing that fiction. I often joked about what he smokes during his writing session.
His recent book “Novelist as a Vocation” sheds some light on it. He is one of the misfits living in his zone and delivering continuously. He speaks about originality in one of the chapters and talks about an artist qualifying as Original. I felt like sharing it.
- The artist must possess a unique individual style. It should come immediately after listening to and reading their work.
- Their style must have the power to update with time. It should grow with time, never resting in the same place with time.
- Over time, that characteristic style should become integrated into the psyche of its audience to become a part of their basic standard of evaluation.
You can relate to it all by reading Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway or looking at the paintings of Picasso or Van Gogh.