What can be said about the study of literary theory is the same as what can be said about the study of stylistics: both contribute and are valuable to the writer who takes his work seriously. They provide him with the means to creatively express whatever he may wish to say. But they will not help him find something to say. Nor will they make his themes more interesting. Nor do they constitute an essential field of study. The study of grammar, indeed, is fundamental and should not be neglected. A true writer who has mastered it, however, can very well produce great works while remaining completely unaware of the subject matter of those stimulating but overrated disciplines. In fact, that is what all writers did until the 20th century.