In addition to writing, Lehane also enjoys teaching writing, although recently he s had little time to do either. A few years down the line I can ease up and teach for nine months or something. I enjoy it a lot. I like seeing people get pumped and get turned on by sort of the daunting realization of their own abilities. Young writers could learn a lot from this novelist whose abilities seem to get better and better with each book.
Writing can be a nebulous thing.
And then you see that click with the students and watch them get better. Toward the end of the movie, Michael Douglas explains what it s like to be a writing teacher. Lehane says that line pretty much says it all. He says you re just a guide. There s this great moment, and sometimes you have a couple of them, when creatively you leap.