thoughts on writing

“Writing is often the process by which you realize you do not understand what you are talking about.”

well-arranged words rearrange reality.

I like the idea that, at the end of the day, it’s the reader who generates the book’s meaning as much as the writer, and it’s the writer’s job to start that transaction but not necessarily to finish it.

One of the shifts in understanding I seek for students is for them to realize that bad sentences are not (primarily) a writing skill issue, but rather a sign of not yet realized thinking. The language follows the thought and if we’re having a hard time getting something on the page, it’s usually because there is not sufficient fodder for that... See more

If you have a plan—if you know the end when you start—it’s no fun to write that novel.

Writing: Assuming you understand the core principles of writing and the basics of grammar, what determines your ability to write well more than anything else is writing a lot. Once you reach the threshold of writing a decent sentence, the thing that leads to success is writing more.

Good input=good output: to be a great writer, we must be great readers. I’ve found that the quality of the texts I read influences the quality of the writing I produce.