I recently began reading Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Besides being delightfully witty and fun, it is seeded with great advice on, well, writing and life.
Something I read today:
"An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift."
Many times, in an effort to make someone notice, writers (of books, TV scripts, news articles, whatever) get carried away with being overly radical or profane or intellectual or just terribly witty. It's more about them and about the witty words and less about what's actually being said (check out any TV round-table--whether its FOXNews, SportsCenter, or Oprah).Something I read today:
"An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift."
Don't get me wrong; I love words. And it is a joyful thing for me to put them together, to hear a great rustle or smack! in the way words collide. That's nerdy, and it's true. And sometimes it really is okay just to mess around with words. But now and then, I get so caught up in me being noticed for my stunning wordsmithing (you may laugh here--I am) that I forget why I write in the first place.
I write to make someone sit up and pay attention to something that is true. Something that needs to be said. And that starts with being alert, with paying attention to worthwhile things, and that starts with life.
You'll get tired of hearing me say this, but I really am most concerned with being true. I desperately want to write something really great, but I am most concerned with writing something that's worth reading, that needs to be read. So I live with expectant hope that this journey takes me to places that are full of stuff that needs to be said or heard...and that my desire to be great or smart or witty won't get in the way of what's being said. And I suppose, if it turns out to be witty or enjoyable or good now and again, that would be a great surprise, wouldn't it?
2 comments:
i do believe that both lewis and chesterton would agree with you. those two gentlemen delivered truth in a witty package, just as you do. your goals and dreams align with the aim of two of my person faves. you are just the bees knees!
Your already there...don't know why, but i haven't read your blogs till now. Don't take this the wrong way but your passion draws me in. Its hard not to read every word, or even go back and read it again, haha. If you keep writing with this much passion I think you already achieved that "pay attention" goal. Just so ya know.
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