Unlearning is the choice, conscious or unconscious, of any real artist. And it is the true sign of maturity. The ability to see things fresh and new and in eternity, rather than in time, can be lost—and for the writer to lose it and not find it again is fatal. It is our unlearning we share in our writing whether for children or grownups, that unlearning which gives us the courage to open ourselves to the sinister as well as the dexterous part of our creativity. Thus we will be able to work to our fullest, to allow the characters to people our stories, to lead us in directions we never anticipated. We don’t need to settle for the limited selves we can control and manipulate.