Episode 34 - On Not Speaking French

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Lessons from Paris.” In this series I’ve chosen essays from my book A Writer’s Paris that I’m betting will help you deepen your connection to your creative life and motivate you to create every day. Today’s show, the seventh in the series, is called “On Not Speaking French.”

>p>The episode begins this way:

“For any creative project that you contemplate doing, you can always ask yourself ‘Do I really know enough to tackle this?’ or ‘Am I really equal to this?’ and talk yourself out of trying. How might you talk yourself out of Paris? One way is by reminding yourself that you don’t speak French. Tell me, though—how much French will you really need? An awful lot to translate Finnegan's Wake into French but almost none to write in English. You are not in Paris to study archaeology at the Sorbonne. You are in Paris to write in English. If your best excuse for not coming to Paris is "I don't speak French," make sure to add that to your "great excuses that hold no water" list.

Tune in to hear more!