Richard Hugo:

You will find that you may rewrite and rewrite a poem and it never seems quite right. Then a much better poem may come rather fast and you wonder why you bothered with all that work on the earlier poem. Actually, the hard work you do on one poem is put in on all poems. The hard work on the first poem is responsible for the sudden ease of the second. If you just sit around waiting for the easy ones, nothing will come. Get to work.

The Triggering Town, p. 17

John Shore:

Learn to think before you write. So many writers think that beautiful thoughts come from beautiful words. Wrong. First have the clear, beautiful thought, and then let the only words that can express that thought naturally attach themselves to it. That’s how you get a style. Put developing a style first, and at best you’ll end up as a writer with a nice enough technique, but nothing to say. The world has plenty of those. Never forget that the only point of writing is to serve thought.

"My Last, Best 10 Tips on How to Make It as a Writer," JohnShore.com

George Bernard Shaw:

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.

Mary Pipher:

When we writers rethink conventional wisdom, we are helping our readers rethink it as well.

Writing to Change the World, p. 118

H. L. Mencken:

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

Richard Hugo:

If you write often, perhaps every day, you will stay in shape and will be better able to receive those good poems, which are finally a matter of luck, and get them down. Lucky accidents seldom happen to writers who don't work.

The Triggering Town, p. 17

Hildegard of Bingen:

We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice.

John Shore:

Say what you see. Never force things to be what you or anyone else most typically wants or expects them to be. Let things and people tell you who and what they are: Let the real truth of whatever you’re considering unfold itself before you—and then just hang on, and see what happens.

"How to Become a Factory of Story and Article Ideas," JohnShore.com

John Neihardt:

She wove her ways into the landscape of my life.

Mary Pipher:

When we are lucky, we enter what the poet Marjorie Saiser calls "cruise control." It is a state of grace, in which our egos have disappeared, the juices are flowing, and we are one with the writing.

Writing to Change the World, p. 116

Latest haiku chapbook arrives

Amy's third annual, limited edition haiku chapbook, Haiku:2008 -- For the Record, is hot off the press; just in time for the holidays! Orders and inquires may be sent to hall_amy_e@hotmail.com. Also available: Haiku:2007 and Haiku:2006, while supplies last.

Rob Bell Event Tonight

This evening, I will hear author Rob Bell speak. I have read and appreciated three of his books thus far, Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians. Years ago, my fledgling rock band opened for Bell's "northern gospel" rock trio, Big Fil.

Richard Hugo:

Once you have a certain amount of accumulated technique, you can forget it in the act of writing. Those moves that are naturally yours will stay with you and will come forth mysteriously when needed.

The Triggering Town, p. 17

Mark Twain:

Calmness is a language that the blind can read and the deaf can hear.

John Shore:

The other Truly Excellent Way to find as many great stories as you can possibly write is to go out into the world secure in the knowledge that people are absolutely fascinating: that they do fascinating things, have fascinating histories, are involved in fascinating dynamics. Move around in life assuming that everyone you meet is astoundingly original and infinitely interesting—and sure enough, their stories will never disappoint you.

"How to Become a Factory of Story and Article Ideas," JohnShore.com

Jewish Saying:

That which is spoken from the heart is heard by the heart.

Mary Pipher:

The calmness and order in Vermeer's art did not exist in his country at that time...As change agents in our loud, fast, high-intensity culture, we can accomplish much the same thing as Vermeer did by sharing calm, reasoned writing.

Writing to Change the World, p. 97