“Successful professional writers are not withholding mysterious secrets from eager beginners. The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time. You find out how to make the thing work by working at it – coming back to it, testing it, seeing where it sticks or wobbles or cheats, and figuring out how to make it go where it has to go.”
— Ursula K. LeGuin (1929-2018)
painting: “Bitterroot Winter” by Rachel Warner, collection of the author
“Writing can be [self-expression, therapy, or a spiritual adventure], but first of all — and in the end, too — it’s an art, a craft, a making. To make something well is to give yourself to it, to seek wholeness, to follow spirit. To learn to make something well can take your whole life. It’s worth it.”