Virginia Woolf from her diaries on writing The Waves:

Much will have to be discarded: what is essential is to write fast and not break the mood—no holiday, no interval if possible, till it is done. Then rest. Then re-write.

Reading side by side Woolf’s diaries on how she approached and toiled through writing The Waves, while reading the novel itself. I’ve never read an author’s account of writing and the story alongside it, but it’s a useful exercise for any writer to see how much frustration, exhaustion and self-doubt goes into one text.

I’m reading these texts to get prepared to attend here in London the Royal Ballet & Opera’s Woolf Works — a ballet invoking her novels and life. I’m ecstatic to be going to this performance later this month, as it combines my two great passions: literature and dance. I don’t talk too much on here about how much I love dance and have been trying to get back into it, but might write a longer piece reviewing both the ballet and my recent re-read of The Waves.