Saturday, December 4, 2010

Just Write

I have to write to be happy whether I get paid for it or not. But it is a hell of a disease to be born with. I like to do it. Which is even worse. That makes it from a disease into a vice. Then I want to do it better than anybody has ever done it which makes it into an obsession. An obsession is terrible. Hope you haven't got any. That's the only one I've got left.

Ernest Hemingway
from a letter to Charles Scribner
[Image from Jim Warren Art]

7 comments:

  1. Hey, nice to see you come up for air. I must transcribe this quotation into my journal, so thanks for it.

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  2. I followed this link from Adila's page, just curious. The quote above is wonderful and my second impression was "ooooh" when I saw the little typewriter in the corner. And "aaahh" when I read a quote from Cormac McCarthy, who is a writer's writer if ever a wiz there was. And finally, my affinity is further illustrated by your evidently similar attitude towards writing as craft. On my blog, I steal/twist a line from Picasso: "I write as I breathe." It keeps me alive, you might say. All the best to you.

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  3. Thanks, GT. Hey, you're not that old, are you, as evidenced by the black-and-white photo?

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  4. Yes I am that old. But it is also a portrait of my soul. You can see the man is a half moment away from laughing, can't you? =)

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