...from beneath like well water...

I've used this quote as writing advice for years, long after I'd forgotten who said it. Thanks to Red Bird and her blog for reminding me of it in its entirety.

"One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes."

-Annie Dillard, The Writing Life p.78

Always Revising

I'll apologize to most of you for the incomprehensibility of the post below. Sometimes I write to please only myself. I mean, after all, it is MY blog.

But I am capable of writing with clarity and precision. I feel a bit embarrassed after reading Andrew's crystalline prose. Oh well. Process.

I suspect my post needed to go through several more revisions than I have time for.

Just like my day today. It is currently being revised - one of the joys of freelancing. I thought I was going to Upland to work at my main nonprofit client. But I don't feel much like being in an office environment.

I do have two proposals that I must finish and submit. So I think I'll pack it all up, heft my trusty (bulky) laptop and head to the Plaza for waffles and inspiration. (You'll be relieved to know that I'm no longer boiling water when I'm in the house alone. So I'll welcome a cup of hot tea in the cafe, as well.)

A bit of good news that I want to share - I got an excited call from my boss this weekend. One of my grants came through for $20,000 that the organization sorely needs. It feels good to help others help others. :)

Words have amazing power.

Making Writing Wait

Sometimes I’m surprised Writing has anything to do with me. I’m so mean to it. Last night, when the house was dark and all else were sleeping, I was still abed, awake and crafting sentences in my head.

But I refused to get up and write them down.

I know most writers insist that you must capture your ideas as you can, else they flee away forever. I believe that.

But I knew if I got up, I’d be awake for hours. I was too tired. So, in a no-nonsense inner voice, I told my writing this:

Check back with me tomorrow. If you really, really want to be a
poem, you’ll just have to hang out in my memory until I get to my computer at a decent hour.

And it did. (I also thought up three blog posts, two emails, and the first four paragraphs of a children’s story. Let’s see if they all hung around.)
********

tightly coiled brown curls
as thick as stars

the brush of her fingertips
like a thousand kisses

is the fall of Hope
fresh, new snowflakes

landing lightly
on her upturned face and palms

despite the empty
air of the room