WRITING IS A COMMUNAL ACT

So writing is not just writing. It is also having relationship with other writers. And don't be jealous, especially secretly. That's the worst kind. If someone writes something great, it's just more clarity in the world for all of us. Don't make writers "other," different from you: "They are good and I am bad." Don't create that dichotomy. It makes it hard to become good if you create that duality. The opposite, of course, is also true: if you say, "I am great and they aren't," then you become too proud, unable to grow as writer or hear criticism of your work. Just: "they are good and I am good." That statement gives a lot of space. "They have been at it longer, and I can walk their path for a while and learn from them."

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BE AN ANIMAL

Also, right before you are planning to write, a good preparation is to become an animal. Move slowly, stalking your prey, which is whatever you plan to write about, no matter what else you might be doing at the moment---taking out the garbage, walking to the library, watering the garden. Get all your senses intent. Turn off your logical mind---empty, no thoughts. Let your words come from your belly. Bring your brain down to your stomach and digest your thoughts. Let them give nourishment to your body. Have a round belly, like Buddha, breathing all the way inside. Don't hold your stomach. Be patient and measured. Let the writing percolate below the level of thought forms, in the subconscious and through your veins.

MAKE STATEMENTS AND ANSWER QUESTIONS

The world isn't always black and white. A person may not be sure if she can go some place, but it is important, especially for a beginning writer, to make clear, assertive statements. "This is good." "It was a blue horse." Not "Well, I know it sounds funny, but I think perhaps it was a blue horse." Making statements is practice in trusting your own mind, in;earning to stand up with your thoughts.

Another thing you should watch out for are questions. If you can write a question, you can answer it. When you are writing, if you write a question, that is fine. But immediately go to a deeper level inside yourself and answer it in the next line. "What should I do with my life?" I should eat three brownies, remember the sky, and become the best writer in the world. "Why did I feel weird last night?" Because I ate pigeon for dinner and I wore my shoes on the wrong feet and because I am unhappy. "Where does the wind come from?" It comes from the memory of pioneers on the Croix River. It loves the earth as far as the Dakotas.

THE ACTION OF A SENTENCE

Verbs are very important. They are the action and energy of a sentence. Be aware of how you use them.

Use them in fresh ways.

Dinosaurs marinate in the earth.

The fiddles boiled the air with music.

The lilacs sliced the sky into purple.

WRITE ANYPLACE

There is no perfect atmosphere, notebook, pen,or desk, so train yourself to be flexible. try writing under different circumstances and in different places. Try train, buses, at kitchen tables, alone in the woods leaning against a tree, by a stream with your feet in the water, in the desert sitting on a rock, on the curb in front of your house, on a porch, a stoop, in the back seat of a car, in the library, at a lunch counter, in an alley, at the unemployment office, in the dentist's waiting room, at a bar in a wooden booth, at the airport, in Texas, Kansas, or Guatemala, while sipping a Coke, smoking a cigarette, eating a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

GO FURTHER

Push yourself beyond when you think you are done with what youhave to say. Go a little further. Sometimes when you think you are done, it is just the edge of beginning. Probably that's why we decide we're done. It's getting too sacry. We are touching down onto something real. It is beyond the point when you think you are done that ofetn something strong comes out.

Even if you have pushed yourself and feel you've broken through, push yourself further. If you are on, ride that wave as long as you can. Don't stop in the middle. That moment won't come back exactly in that way again, and it will take much more time trying to finish a piece lster on than completing it now.

I give this advice out of pure experience. Go further than you think you can.

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