Maggie Smith talks with John Dickerson about her new book, Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life

Maggie Smith talks with John Dickerson about her new book Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life .

Smith: "I love the working on it when it’s kind of giving me fits. I love having little mini breakthroughs with a piece of writing" Smith: Writing a poem now is just as challenging as it was 30 years ago .

You have to love making things more than you love having made them, says the author.

"Once the book is done for me, I’m so ready to send it off and just start something else. Because I want that feeling again. I mean, the most fun is the making of the thing," she says.