All that jazz...

I like this from the beginning of Salman Rushdie's essay 'Influence', a lecture he delivered in Turin,  from 1999:

'The Australian novelist and poet  David Malouf tells us that  'the real enemy of writing is talk'. He warns particularly of the dangers of speaking about work in progress. When writing, one is best advised to keep one's mouth shut, so that the words flow out, instead, through one's fingers.'

I couldn't agree more. And from a reader's point of view, I hate to hear a...