Saved by Alara and
There’s also something to be said about collating and curating in the slow writing process—facts, knowledge, smells, descriptions, stories, passport stamps, headlines—until the collection becomes part of the transformation process. Through acute and critical attention, away from the drive of production, toward the singularity of studying a branch, ... See more
A Revolution in Creativity: On Slow Writing
The reason not to perfect a work as it progresses is that, concomitantly, original work fashions a form the true shape of which it discovers only as it proceeds, so the early strokes are useless, however fine their sheen. Only when a paragraph’s role in the context of the whole work is clear can the envisioning writer direct its complexity of detai
... See moreAnnie Dillard • The Writing Life
Lately, when I’m stuck on a piece, I will print everything I’ve written and re-read it with a pair of scissors in hand. As I go, I will cut out the pieces that feel like they’re working: a phrase here, a sentence there, entire paragraphs if I’m lucky. Then I’ll lay out all the cut-out pieces on my desk and move them around, trying to find the right... See more
Mason Currey • Seek funny leaps
But I don’t think obsessive hustling makes good literature, or good writers, because writing is only the second part of the work. Most of the work is just existing. Writing, like, I suspect, any creative art, is just an attempt to transcribe infinity. And you have to sink into infinity slowly.
Daniel Southwell • The Art of Writing a Novel Slowly
Imagine this: The piece you’re writing is about what you find in the piece you’re writing. Nothing else. No matter how factual, how nonfictional, how purposeful a piece it is. Sooner or later, you’ll become more interested in what you’re able to say on the page and less interested in your intentions. You’ll rely less on the priority of your intenti
... See moreVerlyn Klinkenborg • Several Short Sentences About Writing
Try this: No outline. Research, reading, noticing, interviewing, traveling, paying attention, note taking—all the work you do to understand the subject, whatever it is, whatever kind of piece you’re writing. Reread your notes, and take notes on them. And again. Take notes on your thoughts. Most of all, take notes on what interests you.
Verlyn Klinkenborg • Several Short Sentences About Writing
