27 July 2007

Sy Safransky's Notebook

From Sy Safransky's Notebook in the current issue of The Sun.

"The muse whispers: don't write like someone who fears death but puts a brave face on it, or tells a self-deprecating joke about it; the world doesn't need another borscht-belt comedian. Don't write like a man who worries that his writing isn't good enough; is it good enough to tell your neighbor there's smoke pouring out of her upstairs window? Don't sit there coughing as her house burns to the ground because you can't think of a synonym for fire."

This one spoke to something I'm working through right now.

Articles in The Sun frequently evoke choked up sensations for me. This one got me especially deeply.

1 comment:

Sanguinetti A! said...

Hugo: I wrote yesterday morning when I woke up, thinking of the advice you gave me a few months ago. It felt different than when I write after waking up or during the daytime. It felt more honest.

What do you find in the differences between morning writing any any-other-time writing?

This segment keeps prompting me to believe in just doing it, whatever it is, a little every day.