Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. C. S. Lewis Probably one of my… Continue reading Originality in the Writing World
Month: January 2008
Why Isn’t Everyone Creative?
The key question isn’t “What fosters creativity?” But it is why in God’s name isn’t everyone creative? Where was the human potential lost? How was it crippled? I think therefore a good question might be not why do people create? But why do people not create or innovate? We have got to abandon that sense… Continue reading Why Isn’t Everyone Creative?
Eric Maisel Interview on Van Gogh Blues
Learning to Write…do you need a degree?
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.” -Ernest Hemingway There are mixed messages in the writing community about getting a degree in Creative Writing, many professional writers think it’s unnecessary and you’re either born a writer or not, in other words you… Continue reading Learning to Write…do you need a degree?
Talking without being interrupted
Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. ~Jules Renard, Journal, 10 April 1895 I managed to leave the antiques fair yesterday only spending $5.00, and $2.00 of that was admission. As my friend Rhonda pointed out buying postcards and paper doesn’t take up a lot of room or if you’re lucky that much… Continue reading Talking without being interrupted
Never Stop Fighting
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. ~e.e. cummings, 1955 Today just a quote, my words seem stuck today. A hike did little to stimulate… Continue reading Never Stop Fighting
Surround Yourself with Support
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.— Mark Twain I received the phone call yesterday morning, acceptance into college. I’ll be attending the first residency at Goddard the end of March. The next step… Continue reading Surround Yourself with Support
Gary Gnu exclusively for Kathleen
8 Rules for Writing Fiction
“One writes to make a home for oneself, on paper, in time and in others’ minds.” Alfred Kazin When I first started writing fiction I felt powerful…I had the ability to create characters, fill their mouths with my words, give them problems, ways to overcome those problems and maybe in the end a happy ending…or… Continue reading 8 Rules for Writing Fiction
catching the last bus of the night…
Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night. ~Glade Byron Addams Over lunch the other day a friend and I discussed our waxing and waning passion for our writing work. I lamented that I sometimes wished I didn’t have to write. Imagine just working a 40-hour work week, watching a movie,… Continue reading catching the last bus of the night…