"Even for an area I know well, I prepare a shooting list of subjects I need"
About this Quote
Competence, in Nigel Dennis's line, looks suspiciously like unglamorous paperwork. The point isn't that he needs reminding; it's that he refuses the romance of spontaneity. "Even for an area I know well" sets up a quiet rebuke to the myth of the effortlessly brilliant observer. Familiarity, he suggests, is exactly when you get lazy: you stop seeing, you default to your favorite angles, you mistake recognition for understanding. The shooting list is a self-imposed friction, a way to keep the mind from sliding into autopilot.
The phrase "shooting list" is tellingly brisk and technical, borrowing the language of photography or film. Dennis isn't describing inspiration so much as production. The writer becomes a crew member on his own attention, pre-committing to what must be captured before the light changes. That lends the sentence its authority: it's practical, yes, but it also implies an ethics of looking. You don't just wander through a place and call it research; you decide what you owe the subject.
Context matters here. Dennis, best known for satirical novels like Cards of Identity, worked in a mid-century British literary culture that prized polish and control. His preparation reads as both craft advice and a mild jab at the bohemian pose. The subtext: talent is real, but it doesn't absolve you from logistics. The list isn't a constraint on creativity; it's how creativity avoids becoming self-indulgence.
The phrase "shooting list" is tellingly brisk and technical, borrowing the language of photography or film. Dennis isn't describing inspiration so much as production. The writer becomes a crew member on his own attention, pre-committing to what must be captured before the light changes. That lends the sentence its authority: it's practical, yes, but it also implies an ethics of looking. You don't just wander through a place and call it research; you decide what you owe the subject.
Context matters here. Dennis, best known for satirical novels like Cards of Identity, worked in a mid-century British literary culture that prized polish and control. His preparation reads as both craft advice and a mild jab at the bohemian pose. The subtext: talent is real, but it doesn't absolve you from logistics. The list isn't a constraint on creativity; it's how creativity avoids becoming self-indulgence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
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