In a previous piece, I argued that writers need to be ambitious – that we serve neither ourselves nor our readers by approaching our work with diffidence, by setting modest targets we're confident of hitting. We need to stretch our creative muscles, to risk productive failure in pursuit of something larger than we've managed before. This week on the water Now I want to argue for something related but distinct: that writers need to be brave. Salman Rushdie said recently during an episode of...