Expressing 'The Joy' Of Writing

“The whole joy of writing comes from the opportunity to go over it and make it good, one way or another. “ – James Salter

Salter was the pen name and then legal name of James Arnold Horowitz, born in New Jersey on this date in 1925.  A screenwriter, novelist and short story writer, he served in the Air Force until 1957 when his first novel, The Hunters, literally took off.  Written during his off-duty times during postings in Europe, The Hunters also was adapted into a successful film and led to his full-time writing career.  The book’s successes also sparked his interest in screenwriting and his first effort won a coveted Venice Film Festival prize for the documentary Team, Team, Team.   Among his scripts for Hollywood was the popular 1969 film Downhill Racer. 

     His many creative writing awards included the PEN/Faulkner and PEN/Malamud, the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, and the Rea Award for contributions to short story fiction.  In 2014, a year before his death, he was awarded the Fitzgerald Prize for Achievement in American Literature.

In 2016 his book The Art of Fiction, used in writing courses around the globe, was published posthumously.  “My ideal is a book that is perfect on every page, that gives you tremendous aesthetic joy on every page,” he said.  “I suppose I am always trying to write such a book.”

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