If You Want to Write: 5 for Friday

Here are 5 musts from Brenda Ueland’s If You Want To Write:

1.Know that you have talent, are original and have something important to say.

2.Don’t be afraid of writing bad stories. To discover what is wrong with a story write two new ones and then go back to it.

3.If you are never satisfied with what you write, that is a good sign.It means your vision can see so far that it is hard to come up to it.Again, I say, the only unfortunate people are the glib ones, immediately satisfied with their work. To them the ocean is only knee-deep.

4.Don’t be afraid of yourself when you write. Don’t check-rein yourself.If you are afraid of being sentimental, say, for heaven’s sake be as sentimental as you can or feel like being! Then you will probably pass through to the other side and slough off sentimentality because you understand it at last and really don’t care about it.

5.When discouraged, remember what Van Gogh said: “If you hear a voice within you saying: You are no painter, then paint by all means, lad, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working.”

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

“I have everything I need. A square of sky, a piece of stone, a page, a pen, and memory raining down on me in sleeves.”

-Harriet Doerr