How do you judge your work?

I see stuff that I’ve written that I think….there is two main criticisms I have of my own writing, one is that sometimes it’s a bit….stuff that I’ve written that I look back over a few years later I think that’s a bit flabby, you know you could take more out and make it sharper. And the other thing is sometimes….it’s sort of like….it’s not a bad problem, but it’s a problem, you become a victim of your own success in a sense, that you write in a certain style, and so you keep writing in that style, and then all of a sudden that style, you think I want a change from that I’m sick of that style. If you’re Carlos Spencer and you side step all the time, people get to know that you are just going to side step all the time, and then you’re not good any more. So you have to change your game sometimes, and also….so sometimes I look back and I think oh, too much side stepping, and sometimes I think it’s too flabby.

And mainly you correct those things by patience, by leaving your work for a while and going back to it. And then writing it again, leaving it for a while, and coming back to it. And with a fresh set of eyes you see sometimes where you can work….where you could make it stronger. Ninety nine percent of the time it’s about taking stuff out of it rather than putting stuff into it.