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Dan Brown: 'I'm writing for myself.'

20 May 2013

'I'm writing for myself. I'm writing the book that I want to read and I have come to know that there is a broad spectrum of the population that like to read what I like to read. What I do, I do very intentionally and it takes a lot of time and energy.  And it's funny to me that there are critics who say, "Oh, it's a lazy style." I believe that the purpose of language is to convey an idea and I personally don't like language getting in the way. I don't want to read things where I'm just drowning in the prose. There are times when you read for the beauty of the language, but there are also times when you read to be entertained or to get information. That's how I try to write - as clearly as possible so you don't have to read a sentence twice. All of that is intentional and there are various kinds of devices that I use - very intentionally and very carefully - to create that.'

Dan Brown in the Sunday Times