[xmca] Thinking about writing

[Greg Thompson <greg.a.thompson@gmail.com>]

Just came across a few quotes that felt very CHAT-y and which I found to be
very helpful in my own thinking about writing. One of my problems in
writing (or so I gather) has been my assumption that writing is a process
of mental transcription - I think about something in my head and then
figure out what to say and then I write out my thoughts. But smarter minds
(and better writers!) than I have suggested the opposite insight. Here are
a couple gems I came across:

Edward Albee: "I write to find out what I'm thinking about."

W. H. Auden: "Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; words
will tell you things you never thought or felt before."

Alan Dugan: "When I'm successful, I find the poem will come out saying
something that I didn't previously know, believe, or had intellectually
agreed with."

As a belated New Year wish, I hope that we all are able to write so that we
might, through our writing, be taught something new and worthwhile (and
beautiful?) by our words.

Here's to wishing.
-greg

p.s., I originally heard the Albee quote (ascribed to Auden) in an
interview with Jonathan Safran Foer (
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2012/01/06/foer-loud-close), but he appears to
have improperly ascribed Albee's quote to Auden, who said something
similar, but different. Here is the website with lots more wonderful quotes
from great writers, Enjoy:
https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/5a867953419c6ae68525780d0000d7d3?OpenDocument
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