The Other Five Commandments
Not long ago, I posted about the first five of Julia Alvarez's "Ten of My Writing Commandments." As the semester swings into full gear and writing slips to second place behind prepping, teaching, grading, and way too many meetings, I wanted to post the other five for you:
I'm not much in the kitchen, so the first one (about cooking a small fish) doesn't really compute for me. (One must write a poem the way one burns good food and sets off the smoke alarm? Probably not what the unknown author had in mind.)
But I love the Morrison line. The function of freedom is to free someone else. I love that. Like many people, I've been motivated by Morrison's words at different junctures in my life to make choices I might have otherwise been too complacent or too cowardly to make.
And the Rilke. You must change your life. If I took inventory right now, what would I need to change? Worth pondering. It's a little scary, always to be shaking down your routine like that.
James is escorting his folks back to their home outside New Orleans to assess the damage and get them set back up. I should get a call from them tonight. We were glad to have them here with us, safe and sound. But now, it looks like Ike could be on the way. We'll see how it all plays out.
One must write a poem the way one rules an empire, the way one cooks a small fish.Winners, one and all.~Unknown
El papel lo aguanta todo.
(Paper holds everything.)
~Mami
You must change your life.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
The function of freedom is to free someone else.
~Toni Morrison
If you want to be a writer, then write. Write every day!
~Samuel Johnson
I'm not much in the kitchen, so the first one (about cooking a small fish) doesn't really compute for me. (One must write a poem the way one burns good food and sets off the smoke alarm? Probably not what the unknown author had in mind.)
But I love the Morrison line. The function of freedom is to free someone else. I love that. Like many people, I've been motivated by Morrison's words at different junctures in my life to make choices I might have otherwise been too complacent or too cowardly to make.
And the Rilke. You must change your life. If I took inventory right now, what would I need to change? Worth pondering. It's a little scary, always to be shaking down your routine like that.
James is escorting his folks back to their home outside New Orleans to assess the damage and get them set back up. I should get a call from them tonight. We were glad to have them here with us, safe and sound. But now, it looks like Ike could be on the way. We'll see how it all plays out.
Faye said:
Just thought I'd share with your readers, some of whom might be students who would relate...after facing yet another rejection from a literary journal today, I was talking to my father, who in his role as a psychologist counseled many creative people, including writers, during his career. At one point in the conversation he said to me, "You should write for joy."
I just smiled to myself when he said that, thinking of Joy my one-time instructor.
September 8, 2008 9:43 PM