If you know what you are going to write when you're writing a poem, it's going to be average

If you know what you are going to write when you're writing a poem, it's going to be average

Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have read more

Language achieves soul only when it's applied as a tool, used by those who imbue it with what they have had the courage and honesty to perceive and feel.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

Writing eases my suffering... writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Writing eases my suffering... writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence.

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a read more

Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. read more

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.

Whether or not you write well, write bravely

Whether or not you write well, write bravely

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but read more

The important thing in writing is the capacity to astonish. Not shock - shock is a worn-out word - but astonish.