Philosophy Friday- On Being a Writer

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.

~William Wordsworth



Words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

When a man is in doubt about this or that in his writing, it will often guide him if he asks himself how it will tell a hundred years hence. 



 ~Samuel Butler

The ablest writer is only a gardener first, and then a cook:  his tasks are, carefully to select and cultivate his strongest and most nutritive thoughts; and when they are ripe, to dress them, wholesomely, and yet so that they may have a relish. 



 ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare,

Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

"When did you start writing?"

That is the cocktail party question which stares down every writer.



Ask me and I will confess- at my mother's first school conference, my teacher told my mother she should stop teaching me to write.

So, while I am not quite to my 56th birthday- a half century of writing is under my belt.

In these decades I have learned something which benefits all people in any profession.  Edit your life and your possessions on a regular basis. Then your spirit will be free from being dragged down by clutter. Organize so you can find what you looking for when you need it. For writers, we have to keep track of our heart.

Between now and Three Kings Day, my professional schedule is severely pared back on purpose. This year, there are 2 less place settings at our holiday table. The bitter and sweet of this drives a desire to keep this time of year sacred with more care than ever. 

What do you do to prepare for the honored guest which will come to visit, whether or not we are ready: The New Year.



                                           Images by Gene Sasse. Used with permission