The Deepest Secret In Our

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.

First, Consider The Pen You Write With. It Should Be A Fast-writing Pen Because Your Thoughts Are Always Much Faster Than Your Hand. You Don't Want To Slow Up Your Hand Even More With A Slow Pen. A Ballpoint, A Pencil, A Felt Tip, For Sure, Are Slow. Go To A Stationery Store And See What Feels Good To You. Try Out Different Kinds. Don't Get Too Fancy And Expensive. I Mostly Use A Cheap Sheaffer Fountain Pen, About $1.95.... You Want To Be Able To Feel The Connection And Texture Of The Pen On Paper.

Tulips Come Up In Spring For No Reason. Of Course, You Planted Bulbs And Now In April The Earth Warms Up. But Why? For No Reason Except Gravity. Why Gravity? For No Reason. And Why Did You Plant Red Tulip Bulbs To Begin With? For Beauty, Which Is Itself And Has No Reason. So The World Is Empty. Things Rise And Fall For No Reason. And What A Great Opportunity That Is! You Can Start Writing Again At Any Minute. Let Go Of All Your Failures And Sit Down And Write Something Great. Or Write Something Terrible And Feel Great About It.

Writing Practice Brings Us Back To The Uniqueness Of Our Own Minds And An Acceptance Of It. We All Have Wild Dreams, Fantasies, And Ordinary Thoughts. Let Us To Feel The Texture Of Them And Not Be Afraid Of Them.writing Is Still The Wildest Thing I Know.

Read Books. They Are Good For Us.