Hello everyone On Thu, Oct 14, 2010 at 9:23 PM, John Carl <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Dan, > > To my mind, practice entails learning, not teaching, although in a >> sense I suppose practice is teaching oneself. But if all it took was >> practice to be a good writer, why not just have the student practice, >> practice, practice? Isn't that the way most writing courses are >> taught? Like I said, I have never taught writing nor have I taken a >> wrting class, so I don't really know. Do you? >> > > No, I've never really taken a class on writing, much less taught one. But I > do think practice is better than not-practice. No matter how little > practice improves technique, it's a lot more than none. I subscribe to the > HS Truman dictum, try it, and if it doesn't work try something else.
Dan: I just sit, and the grass grows on its own. Great insights grow out of the emptiness. > > > >> I notice most people I associate with in my personal life do not read, >> much less write. And even the readers I know don't write. I guess it's >> easier to pick up a book and read it rather than sitting down and >> writing but I don't pretend to understand. I tend to get aggravated >> when people tell me I am lucky to be able to write. Luck has nothing >> to do with it. I write because there is something inside of me that >> only writing will let out. But for the life of me, I can't begin to >> tell you what that something is. >> > > And yet you just did. Notice that? You might not feel like you > communicated a great deal with that little verbal formulation, and yet I > feel like I understand you completely, and identify with you a great deal. > I appreciate some time to myself to write right now, to have the words and > the means to express them. "Lucky" might not be the right term exactly, as > if the whole thing had been left to chance but people often use the term to > mean "fortunate" and I do feel so. Dan: I also appreciate the time I have to write but it's more than that. I have to write, otherwise... > > > > >> I am not a great writer. I am not even a good writer, in my opinion. >> Still, if I could do anything, it would be to write. Even so, there >> are times when all I write is garbage, most times really. And I know >> it is garbage. So I stop. No amount of practice is going to make >> garbage into anything but trash. There is no sense in forcing it. But >> then, one day I will just sit down in front of the computer and start >> tap tap tapping on the keys and a story appears. i don't know where >> they come from. >> > > Practice. That's what I'm tellin' you, man. Stories come from the practice > of telling stories. At least in my experience. The more I spill out, the > more that arise. There is no finite end to the stories that can be told, > just from one unwritten life. And there are so, so many unwritten lives to > choose from. Just today, I began to think in earnest on the strange case > of Sam Strange and SO much stuff came to me, begging to be written. I'll > keep you posted on whether any of it actually does get written, and if it > doesn't seem like garbage, I'll share it with you. Dan: Doubtlessly practice has something to do with good writing, I am not denying that. But there is more to it that just practice, in my opinion. > > > >> >> Even great writers tend to write garbage at times though. I've notice >> that. I guess they have to earn a living. If a person was to learn >> pure quality first, would it keep them from writing garbage? Perhaps. >> At least they'd know it was garbage. But they must know that anyway, I >> suspect. >> >> > One definition of "garbage" is stuff that doesn't earn you a living. By > that definition, anything that earns you a living is NOT garbage. Dan: I like to earn money from my writings, sure. But again, that's not why I write or why I sometimes seem to write only garbage. > > One man's trash, another man's treasure, as it were. > > Speaking of ma, as it were. I'll give her your regards. Dan: Good, thank you. Mothers hold a special place in my heart since mine passed away nearly fifty years ago now. You are indeed fortunate. Thank you, Dan > > Take care, > > John > > PS: and yeah, there's more than one way of "earning" and more than one way > of "living". Money isn't everything. Dan: As I used to tell my friend SA all the time... before his meltdown, of course... > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
