As an orchestral musician, I was told by more than one conductor that the space between the notes was as powerful, if not more powerful, than the notes themselves. I’ve found this to be the case in writing as well. Thank you for reminding me.
What I'm really grateful for is the romance in writing that you capture. Writing has become a job for most people I know. A low paying, low return on investment job. Cats, coffee, trees. The pleasure of your own mind.
This is remarkable, Alice: ""The focus is on each sentence as a vital creature, a being brought into embodiment by language, and having a life of its own." I love the idea of a contemplative first draft as an alternative to the shitty first draft.
This is beautiful Alice. October is my favorite month, and you captured the reasons. Yes! I miss the smell of burning leaves, and while we no longer have that comforting banging of the radiators, the roar of the furnace with its promise of warmth gives me a similar rush.
So much of this piece resonated: the pain (and fear) of the world at large, gratitude (and guilt) for my own good fortune, the need for routines, and the lift of - as you say - contemplative reading. Rachel Naomi Remen has been my savior at various times.
I am not disciplined about writing, and I loved your reflections on your process...and your struggling tree!
I love it all, but this is the sentence I’d pick to be inscribed on the wall above my desk: Have “the intention for a first draft to be written in the spirit of something worth keeping rather than something to get past”. Off now to pick up my Pilot Kakuno pen! ❤️
I really love this piece, Alice. And, I, too, reach for that third place of writing, the contemplative first draft that came come like a gift when I get into creative flow. While sometimes I feel desperate for the extended solitude and control of a retreat, “the world is too much with us late and soon,” and I am trying to learn to work better within it as I’ve never been particularly successful with an undisturbed dawn writing period. Thank you for a really beautiful piece of writing.
As an orchestral musician, I was told by more than one conductor that the space between the notes was as powerful, if not more powerful, than the notes themselves. I’ve found this to be the case in writing as well. Thank you for reminding me.
What I'm really grateful for is the romance in writing that you capture. Writing has become a job for most people I know. A low paying, low return on investment job. Cats, coffee, trees. The pleasure of your own mind.
A desperate romance! I do love it now, it's true. It used to be so miserable.
This is remarkable, Alice: ""The focus is on each sentence as a vital creature, a being brought into embodiment by language, and having a life of its own." I love the idea of a contemplative first draft as an alternative to the shitty first draft.
This is beautiful Alice. October is my favorite month, and you captured the reasons. Yes! I miss the smell of burning leaves, and while we no longer have that comforting banging of the radiators, the roar of the furnace with its promise of warmth gives me a similar rush.
So much of this piece resonated: the pain (and fear) of the world at large, gratitude (and guilt) for my own good fortune, the need for routines, and the lift of - as you say - contemplative reading. Rachel Naomi Remen has been my savior at various times.
I am not disciplined about writing, and I loved your reflections on your process...and your struggling tree!
You may think you are not disciplined about it, but your thoughts are disciplined so your writing is beautiful.
Love this, Alice.
Great writing advice. Clear the mechanism.
I love it all, but this is the sentence I’d pick to be inscribed on the wall above my desk: Have “the intention for a first draft to be written in the spirit of something worth keeping rather than something to get past”. Off now to pick up my Pilot Kakuno pen! ❤️
beautiful and wise. Yes to Ten Windows!
I really love this piece, Alice. And, I, too, reach for that third place of writing, the contemplative first draft that came come like a gift when I get into creative flow. While sometimes I feel desperate for the extended solitude and control of a retreat, “the world is too much with us late and soon,” and I am trying to learn to work better within it as I’ve never been particularly successful with an undisturbed dawn writing period. Thank you for a really beautiful piece of writing.
I can't do the pre-dawn always either, but it is exhilarating when I do.
This is deeply beautiful. I loved reading it.