You. Get. Me.
There is nothing like the feeling of being understood, seen, perceived in your uniqueness and complex simplicity.
I’d kill (my ego) for the aha moment of supernatural connection with another human (or creature) that — for at least one brief, eternal second, suspended over the art and dust that we are — hears my tune, gets my story and understands the blood and gut and beauty of it all. To be reminded that doing what I love and loving what I do is worth it, after all.
The best kind of appreciation is that which reflects and understands your struggles and in the same breath, lifts you up. The kind that whispers, “I know you. I see you. It matters.”
We pay millions for these sublime moments, masked as entertainment, people, books, courses, services… Whatever will make us feel more like ourselves. What we may not realize right away is that this feeling of connection is the purpose of all our communication. These ahas, touches and stirrings of the soul are what we live for, and what we ultimately seek with every interaction.
I think it starts at birth. We were separated from the whole and given a body, a limited individual to inhabit, through which we can experience the world. And all we do, all life long is seek to reconnect with our original infinitude, freedom and wholeness by collecting moments of truth. Until one day and after so much searching, we’re called back home.
A few weeks ago, we started a 30 Day Writing Challenge to help us re-prioritize our passion, practice our craft like our life depends on it, and write ourselves alive, every damn day. It’s been a revelation to watch the connections we have developed in our writing group and overall online interaction, as well as to realize the thirst and hunger we all have for another par of eyes to just get us and share our journey, if only for a mile.
Since we are trying to be writers here and writing is our most conscious and articulate art, the door to our best kept-secrets and our main gateway for communicating our truth with the world, here are 29 of my favorite, timeless musings on writing.
I hope it adds a teaspoon of inspiration to your gigantic cup of coffee, tea or galaxy, and reminds you that although it’s a lonely job, you’re never alone. You’re a Warrior of Words, part of a global army of loners, dreamers and doers who also write themselves alive, whatever hell comes with the ride.
We are legion.
1.
2.
Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything… It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.
— Enid Bagnold
3.
I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle.
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5.
Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.
― William Faulkner
6.
Writers aren’t people exactly. Or, if they’re any good, they’re a whole lot of people trying so hard to be one person.
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
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We’re past the age of heroes and hero kings… Most of our lives are basically mundane and dull, and it’s up to the writer to find ways to make them interesting.
— John Updike
9.
The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
– William Saroyan
10.
Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.
— Larry L. King
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12.
Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.
—Virginia Woolf
13.
Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.
— Ray Bradbury
14.
15.
Ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple ‘I must,’ then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.
16.
The only story that seems worth writing is a cry, a shot, a scream. A story should break the reader’s heart… The story must strike a nerve — in me. My heart should start pounding when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.
17.
18.
When I say ‘work’ I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.
— Margaret Laurence
19.
When your story is ready for rewrite, cut it to the bone. Get rid of every ounce of excess fat. This is going to hurt; revising a story down to the bare essentials is always a little like murdering children, but it must be done.
— Stephen King
20.
21.
Most writing is done away from the typewriter, away from the desk. I’d say it occurs in the quiet, silent moments, while you’re walking or shaving or playing a game, or whatever, or even talking to someone you’re not vitally interested in.
22.
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it.
— Anaïs Nin
23.
One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
24.
25.
Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.
— Stephen King
26.
Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.
— Franz Kafka
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28.
Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.
— Alan Wilson Watts
29.
You’ll never be loved or unloved by everyone. You’ll have your lovers, you’ll also have your prosecutors, especially if you’re attempting to have a voice in a society that worships the sheep and tries to quiet the shepherds. Make your own music and accept that sometimes it may be out of tune. Let your ego be crushed by all the constructive critique you can get. And when it turns destructive, let it rain and pour over your paragraphs and splash all your demons with your ink.
Let’s make it 30, so we’re even (coffee on you)…
♦
Got any favorite write-bites?
Drop your precious in the comments.
{WRITE YOURSELF ALIVE}
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