Spare the Darling

If each piece is approached as our life’s defining work, we revise and overwrite endlessly, aiming for the unrealistic ideal of perfection.

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

And it’s interesting that the writing I tend to think of as “good” is good because it’s mysterious. It tends to happen when I get out of the way—when I let it go a little bit, I surprise myself. I feel most pleased with my language when I don’t understand it completely.