Visitor Center, City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM, January 6, 2010
On Writing
I've never studied writing and I struggle with it every day. Here are some passages bearing on this mysterious art.
- I Like Writing
- "I like finding feelings in words' ..."
- Writing From the Inside Out
- "It takes a while - often years - for the writer to get to appreaciate his effect on others..."
- The Value of Notebooks
- "I never actually get around to reading them and using what I've written, but I do tend to reproduce the same thoughts later."
- Give it, Give it All, Give it Now
- "The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now."
- What a Real Essay Is
- "In a real essay, you don't take a position and defend it. You notice a door that's ajar, and you open it and walk in to see what's inside."
- Or So I Feel
- "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."
- Finding a Balance in Execution, Reflection and Articulation
- On building tools, finding a balance in execution, reflection and articulation — and teaching others to find that balance, too.
- Writing Forces Thinking
- "writing something that other people will read forces you to think well."