A Writer's Job Is To

I Read Eve Ensler And Thought It Was Fabulous. Not Only That, But It Was Really The Only Thing I Could Relate To About Cancer.

We Always Worry That We Are Copying Someone Else, That We Don't Have Our Own Style. Don't Worry. Writing Is A Communal Act. Contrary To Popular Belief, A Writer Is Not Prometheus Alone On A Hill Full Of Fire. We Are Very Arrogant To Think We Alone Have A Totally Original Mind. We Are Carried On The Backs Of All The Writers Who Came Before Us. We Live In The Present With All The History, Ideas, And Soda Pop Of This Time. It All Gets Mixed Up In Our Writing.

I Came Out With A Book Called The True Secret Of Writing: Connecting Life With Language. It's A Book That Describes How Writing Is A Practice And How My Teaching Is Part Of That Practice. I Direct The Writing And Create Books But Underneath, There's Always The River Of Practice Happening. No Good, No Bad. Just Do It.

If You Feel Bored Or Uncomfortable As You're Writing, Ask Yourself What's Bothering You And Write About That. Sometimes Your Creative Energy Is Like Water In A Kinked Hose, And Before Thoughts Can Flow On The Topic At Hand, You Have To Straighten The Hose By Attending To Whatever Is Preoccupying You.

I Don't Think Everyone Wants To Create The Great American Novel, But We All Have A Dream Of Telling Our Stories-of Realizing What We Think, Feel, And See Before We Die. Writing Is A Path To Meet Ourselves And Become Intimate.