Saturday, September 16, 2006

My collage, in its first stage





It took too long to replace this, but here it is. (to no avail could I find the post where I explained the first installment of my "window above the sink." I'll keep looking...) (Here it is.)

I had to just put it up. It will grow, but I needed it up, my "window above the sink." I wanted it to be what the old one was, which I made ten years ago, but I am a different person, so the old rules don't apply.

This is from the foreword to Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg: the foreword is by Judith Guest, writer of Ordinary People. If you haven't read that book, run, do not walk, to your local book procurement (bookstore, library, sister) outlet.

"I had written a first novel and it had achieved phenomonel success. I had stumbled upon the secret path and uncovered the rules and been rewarded with much praise. Unfortunately, all of this was proving to be of little use to me in the writing of the next novel. I was having a terrible time of it. How could I have forgotten everything so quickly? For six painful years I struggled until I figured out the rules for Ordinary People simply didn't apply to the next situation. It was natural and understandable that I was having difficulty. I was writing a different novel; I was exploring a new path.

It is easy to lose sight of the fact that writers do not write to impart knowledge to others; rather, they write to inform themselves."

Go and do likewise!

3 comments:

Paula said...

I like the quote on your collage.
Looking forward to the next installment.

Amy A. said...

I remember something not too long ago about your window above the sink and that you gave it to someone? Don't go too far back, because if I can remember it with what few brain cells (4 kids) I have left, it wasn't that long ago!

Sarah Louise said...

I know! I checked August. I'll keep trolling my archives. I vill find eet! (I don't know, the accent came out of nowhere!)