Devotion

Part of the Why I Write series, this volume documents the internal mechanics of a writer’s craft. Smith tracks her physical movements through Paris and the French countryside, documenting how sensory details—the taste of a black coffee, a film by Simone Weil, or a train ride—coalesce into a fictional narrative. The centerpiece is an original short story titled The Mind of a Girl, which follows a young skater named Eugenia and her obsession with an older collector. Smith concludes by breaking down the specific literary and personal inspirations that sparked the story's creation.

This book serves students of literature and practitioners of creative writing who seek to understand the transition from observation to drafting. It provides a technical look at how an artist filters their environment into prose. Readers walk away with a clear perspective on the discipline required to maintain a creative practice and the specific ways external influences translate into structured fiction. It is a resource for understanding the intellectual labor behind the production of a short story.