As most of you know, I love to write. In fact, I wrote my first “novel” in third grade. I wrote it by hand in a big red tablet with yellow pages. It was three pages long. But today I’m not going to talk about my writing. I’m going to share with you some things other writers have said about writing. I’d be interested in knowing what you think of these:
1) Planning to write is not writing… outlining… researching… talking to people about what you’re doing, none of that is writing. Writing is writing. E.L.Doctorow
2) I must confess, I have learned many things I never knew before, just by writing. St. Augustine
3) I think writers are basically seekers. That’s what drives them. Jayne Anne Phillips
4) How do I know what I think until I see what I say? E.M. Forster
5) The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new. William Thachery
6) Writing is the hardest way to earn a living, with the exception of wrestling alligators. Olin Miller
7) The writer is only half a book–the reader is the other half. P.L. Travers author of Mary Poppins
8) The secret of a good sermon is a good beginning and a good ending. And having them as close together as possible. George Burns
9) Writing can give you what having a baby can give you: it can get you to start paying attention, can help you to soften, can wake you up. Anne Lamott
10) It is better to be a good pickle merchant than a poor poet. Harriet Moore
11) I’m writing a book. So far, I’ve got the page numbers done. Anonymous
12) A young man sent a manuscript to a famous author with a note saying, Please read this ms. and advise. Please answer me as quickly as possible, because I have other irons in the fire.” The noted writer sent back this note: “Remove irons. Insert ms.” (ouch!)
13) Good writing is the hardest form of thinking. Pat Conroy
14) Writing, which is my form of celebration and prayer, is also my form of inquiry. Diane Ackerman
15) Every adjective and adverb is worth 5 cents. Every verb is worth 50 cents. Mary Oliver
16) I wrote the books I should have liked to read. C.S. Lewis
17) Writing a book is hard work, because you are giving yourself away. Dorothy Day
18) When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. Enrique Jardiel Poncela
19) Question: What kind of writing pays the best? Answer: Ransom notes.
20) If I were asked what I want to accomplish as a writer, I would say it’s to contribute to a literature of hope. Barry Lopez
For reflection:
Did any of these quotes stand out for you today? If so, which one(s) and why?
From your experience of trying to write something, what was your greatest challenge? What was your greatest delight?
Would you like to say anything else about writing–either as a writer or a reader or both?
P.S: Thank you for the support of your prayers for the retreat I gave last week at the beautiful Lial Renewal Center, a ministry of our SNDs in Toledo. I wish to thank also the staff at Lial, especially the director Sister Rosemary and the entire “creative kitchen crew,” who made the week a time for prayerful silence and physical and spiritual nourishment for all who participated! I’m most grateful to all!
Probably most of us reading this bog have a great love and respect for the Bible, the Word of God. Here’s a song by MercyMe called “Word of God.” It’s a favorite of mine and fits with the theme of this reflection. Sometimes God communicates with us in silence… and sometimes our prayer to God goes beyond words–and that’s okay…
I welcome you to write a comment below! I love hearing from you!
6 Responses
Writing that is engaging and meaningful to the reader is a real gift. It seems like so much of what I have read over the past decade has been serious. History, non-fiction, spirituality and theology are important genres, but I am starting to crave writing that is less serious and more humorous.
My Mom & many Aunts loved to write letters back & forth back in the day. I eventually took up that habit & enjoyed writing & always had a funny in them. I also loved getting letters back too. Unfortunately, it’s pretty much gone.
Sadly now, , too easy to text. Life goes on!
Enjoy all your writings.
I like each one of these pithy statements about writing. When I was writing my dissertation years back, I had a little sign on my desk…
“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead .”
(quote attributed to Gene Fowler, author of Good Night, Sweet Prince)
Thank you, Sister Melannie!
Sister Melannie, I am WRITING this a week late. Where is my head? I just read last weeks blog. For me it hit every nerve in my body. These last few months have been difficult for me. I was one of 1,000 people that lost my job from one of the major hospitals here in Pittsburgh. I also recently had a replaced knee replace again after about twelve years. Pain and suffering. We, as a family has had alot on our plates. My wonderful sister in law is suffering from dementia at 72 years of age, my beloved sister is losing her sight to glaucoma, my younger brother is pending heart surgery. I very much have felt like I have been in the desert, lost and wondering around. I haven’t cryed about any of this and I am a cryer but after reading the August 12, 2024 blog like Thomas I sobbed. My angel was my dog as she came and licked my hand and looked at me with those big brown eyes.
Thanks ever so much for sharing that, I really needed that!!! God bless your work. I am your Benedictine Oblate friend from Pittsburgh.
Number 7 speaks to me because I’m most comfortable being the reader. I love, love, love reading. As a young kid, I loved listening to my mother read to us and couldn’t wait to go to bed after a trip to the library so I could read under the covers. As an adult I taught young kids how to read and then taught literature to junior high school students. I tried to instill in them a love of the written word and reading. Even now in my senior years, I love to read! I am very grateful to you and other writers who have used your words to open up my world. The written word has given me so much to ponder and appreciate.
Thank you and God bless you in your ministry of writing Sr. Melannie!
Dear Sr.Melannie,
Thank you for the quotes re writing.
When I was in second grade I was encouraged by my father to write to my grandmother in Parsons, KS. We lived in Kansas City, MO.
Amazingly, This correspondence persisted into my high school years.
After my grandmother, died my father gave me a shoebox filled with letters from me and m y sister—-she saved every letter!
Now I write notes to my dear cousin, Sr. Gemma, SSND, MY GRANDCHILDREN AND friends. Even THOUGH IT IS A DYING ART.
I also Love to read and have been in a BookClub for 22 years.
Many thanks for the Inspiration you share with us weekly. It is such a JOY TO READ EACH WEEK.
Our world desperately needs HOPE and INSPIRATION!
Many Blessings for you,
Ann Sardegna