Notebooks are ‘a forgotten account with accumulated interest’
Listening seeds ideas. Overheard dialogue, especially misheard words, are auditory stimulants for the imagination. Said Joan Didion in her essay “On Keeping a Notebook:” “See enough...
Tag: quotes
Why simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” wrote Leonardo Da Vinci. He would paint over work that didn’t meet up with his expectations. Not surprisingly, Steve Jobs...
Don’t hold that thought 💬✒️
When in doubt, speak up. Talking is a tool for excavating thoughts—microphone in hand or not. It’s only after the speaking occurs do the words...
‘Good work only comes through revision’
After a lifetime of hounding authors for advice, I’ve heard three truths from every mouth: (1) Writing is painful— it’s ‘fun’ only for novices, the...
‘The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it’
“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared...
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
“Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life. I take a book with me everywhere I go, and find there are all sorts of opportunities...
‘The writer feeds his book’
The writer feeds his book, he strengthens the parts of it which are weak, he protects it, but afterwards it is the book that grows,...
Abraham Lincoln on writing
“Writing, the art of communicating thoughts to the mind, through the eye— is the great invention of the world.” Abraham Lincoln...
Take what you’ve done and throw it away
If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to...
Haruki Murakami: ‘I run in order to acquire a void’
“But really as I run, I don’t think much of anything worth mentioning. I just run. I run in a void. Or maybe I should...
Henry Miller on why we create
“I reached out for something to attach myself to—and I found nothing. But in reaching out, in the effort to grasp, to attach myself, left...
‘How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives’
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we...