Thursday 29 September 2022

A (very) helpful quote - Nick Garlick

I’m stuck into a new story at the moment. Hard at work struggling through a first draft. I’m not sure if the words are any harder to come by than usual, but the current draft has made me remember a quote that always helps.

Writing:  shitty first drafts. Butt in chair. Just do it. You own everything that happened to you. You are going to feel like hell if you never write the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your heart – your stories, visons, memories, songs: your truth, your version of things, in your voice. That is really all you have to offer us, and it’s why you were born.

Anne Lamott

I know next to nothing about Ms Lamott (a Wikipedia entry and that's it) but this quote of hers has kept me sitting at the desk more times than I can count. And for that I’m truly grateful.

 


(The picture has nothing whatsoever to do with this blog entry. Or on second thoughts, it might just represent my brain lost in all the multiple possibilities of a first draft plot.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's Rowena. No idea why I am anonymous. Anyway, her Bird by Bird is delightful if you ever feel like more of Anne Lamont's wisdom. Good luck!

Odette said...

I agree. That is indeed a very helpful quote. Thank you Nick for this p ost!
Odette