One of my favorite books on creativity and work. This is a compelling short story where Tolkien grapples with his own creative demons- Niggle is a painter whose much better at painting leafs than trees. He's trying to finish a great painting of a tree, but keeps getting distracted by the leafs. Tolkien is clearly writing autobiographicly here as he's so fascinated with the details of his mythic cultures that it might prevent him from finishing his epic.
Tolkien writes this before he's finished The Lord of the Rings and asks in the book, "what if I don't finish and I die in obscurity and my great work is unfinished?" I think any creative professional would relate.
This short story can also be read on Scribd https://www.scribd.com/mobile/do...
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