here follows the practical prescription i promised. take a few sheets of paper and for three days in succession write down, with any falsification or hypocrisy, everything that comes into your head. write what you think of yourself, of your women, of the turkish war, of goethe... of the last judgment, of those senior to you in authority -- and when the three days are over you will be amazed at what novel and startling thoughts have welled up in you. that is the art of becoming an original writer in three days.