Thursday, September 29, 2016
Inclination and Connecting the Dots
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| courtesy google images |
"No pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, no inclination." --James Joyce
"The fourth quarter of the year is upon us (fourth? what happened to the other three??) and I'm determined to read this quote every day for the next three months. Simple words but very motivating. For the inclination (n: disposition or bent; something to which one is inclined) to write truly starts with something as basic as a pen. Add to that then a place, time, quiet...
And the dots begin to be connected, the story picture we have in our heads begins to be drawn. Inclination is fostered, not squelched. Nothing new here, but reminders are always good."
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What a sad quote - I hope someone gave him a pen!
ReplyDeleteHow are you, Kenda? I'm just back from Maine, a place I've always wanted to visit, and before that, the SCBWI conference in Cleveland. It's been a busy September. Hope this fall will be a productive one!
Peggy, so good to hear from you! You have been busy. We've been a bit busy here, too. Maybe an email is in order to catch up :-) But as to the quote, I took it more as a prod rather than the poor plight of Mr. Joyce. It says to me that if I don't pick up a pen, if I don't sit down to write, if I don't go off to a quiet space with purpose, then I have no inclination to do any writing. It's the push that says I better be intentional or nothing will get done. So I have that quote on my desk as a reminder. Interesting the different interpretations of the same quote... :-)
ReplyDeleteThat quote is a nice reminder. Sadly, when I have the inclination but no pen or paper, by the time I do get materials, the thoughts in my head have become a little watered down and not as interesting as when I first had the urge. I'm struggling with a poem like that now.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elizabeth--I think we can all identify! Similarly, the grand idea that comes in the middle of the night and is jotted down in the dark sure doesn't look all that grand in the morning :-) But still, the writer's voice nudges us and we keep on trying, don't we? So nice to hear from you. Good luck on your poem!
ReplyDeleteWe got back home 10 days ago, and after catching up on a few things, I came to your blog looking for an October post from the past. But I'm having a hard time with inclination right now. I had the first real vacation in years where I didn't do anything except visit friends and drive around admiring scenery. Now I have to get with it again, so this was a good reminder!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, welcome home from what sounds like a well-deserved vacation. And thanks for checking for October's archives. I must admit, even with the best of intentions, I've gotten behind. But I did just publish October's post-from-the-past--getting it up before the month slid completely away, whew :-) Btw, what's the word on a publication date for your book of poetry? Looking forward to reading it...
DeleteThe poetry book, Saudade, has been released for pre-orders (and that period ends on December 20th). The the pre-ordered books will be sent out February 14th.
ReplyDeleteBTW: I have a new post that might interest you, because it is an interview with a poet.
News of the upcoming publication of your poetry book is so exciting! I'm happy for you and plan to order a copy of it. And I just checked out your interview and enjoyed it very much. Thanks for the heads-up :-)
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