and even more handsome Now!
El Toro of Love
This is Riley!
I’m so busy! I don’t think I have time to write. I have to clean the house, do my church calling, spend time with my husband and homeschool my kids! How can I write?
There is only one way: to study one’s needs and quirks, and circumvent one’s tricks for escape!
Okay, okay. I’ll give it a try. I have so many ideas, but I can’t figure out what to say!
Convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble, on paper not eternal bronze: let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. No one will rush out and print it as it stands. Just put it down, then another. Your whole first paragraph may have to be guillotined in any case after the piece is finished . . . But as modern mathematics has discovered, there can be no second paragraph until you have a first.
Any other helpful hints or recommendations?
In writing, always keep your feet warm, unless you are a full-blooded Indian accustomed to thinking great thoughts while walking barefoot in icy streams.
Sometimes I get so frustrated when I write! I can’t think of the right word or decide how to organize my thoughts.
[Remember the] law of momentum . . . for writers who have experienced difficulty and discouragement, the proper aim is that of the learner on the bicycle—keep going, which means at a certain speed.
How can I ever hope to be a great writer like the ones I read about in history?
As a reader of history I am steadily reminded that writing has always been a hit-and-miss affair. Here is Amos Barrett, our chief source on the battles of
Okay, but I know that
Writing seems so old fashioned. Can’t I just text my friends and post videos on youtube instead?
Although it is possible to think without words and to communicate by signs, our civilization depends . . . on the written word. Writing is embodied thought, and the thought is clear or muddy, graspable or fugitive according to the purity of the medium. Communication means one thought held in common. What could be more practical than to try making that thought unmistakable?
I recently read a great biography called The Real Thomas Jefferson. It was full of inspiring stories and quotes. A theme throughout the book was Jefferson's effort to end slavery. In 1784 Jefferson sponsored a bill about the western territories. He included a clause barring slavery in any of these areas after 1800, but his proposal was defeated by one vote! Jefferson lamented:The voice of a single individual . . . would have prevented this abominable crime from spreading itself over the new country. Thus we see the fate of millions unborn hanging on the tongue of one man, and Heaven was silent in that awful moment! But is to be hoped it will not always be silent, and that the friends to the rights of human nature will in the end prevail.Sadly, this is a negative example, but it doesn't change the fact that: One person really can make a difference! This is a true principle and it is important to remember in this election year. I have seen many examples of this in history, in literature and in my own life. I feel strongly about the "power of one" and I will share other examples in future posts.
