These quotes about the craft gave me pause.
“I sometimes feel that I have nothing to say and I want to communicate this.” –Damien Hurst
“It is so much worse to be a mediocre artist than to be a mediocre post office clerk.” –Rudolf Bing
“Writing … is an act of faith: I believe it’s also an act of hope, the hope that things can be better than they are.” –Margaret Atwood
“There’s a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is merely calisthenics with words.” –Dorothy Parker
“Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.” –John Wesley
(All quotes from the Scott’s Almanac 2008 calendar. Most of them in February, I think.)
{ 10 comments }
These are really thought-provoking.
Also thought-provoking, and which I thought I should confess for the record, is that I gave Auralia’s Colors a second chance and decided it’s amazing-and-what-was-my-problem-anyway. Heh. I have to wait for a new week of Sbux tips to come in before I can buy it, though . . .
Speaking of Auralia’s Colors, Jeffrey Overstreet is speaking at Laity Lodge next week!
The Wesley quote strikes me at the heart. It reminds me that I write in order to love, and that if I do it to show myself off, I’ll fail even if I succeed. Thank you for sharing.
Alas, I have so much I want to say; but words keep getting in the way.
Them’s good thoughts there. I’m too busy memorizing my word-of-the-day though to dwell too much.
This word-of-the-day’s a zinger!
Hey, how did you get that “My Zimbio” badge?
Writing is so myserious. Attempts to explain it almost always seem to end up in these maxims that, which sounding good and even being good, are hard for people to actually put into use in a real writing life.
Let’s face it. It’s hard for writers to explain this strange process of following the words that come spilling out of both your mind and your gut.
Love that first quote. Truly, the wise writer knows he has nothing to say (in the sense that there’s nothing new under the sun). But if he can say it well, why that’s worth something.
Love the last. Perspective.
Gulp! I feel like Wesley’s been peering into my living room. It’s easy for us writers to excuse excessive reading as “research”.
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