collected notes on writing

tell the truth: how do u make me feel visible

Grace Chin for Design Sponge

some days i feel dry and empty, all hollow and frustrated, because i do not lack the desire to make, but the words aren't there.
never fear. sometimes these are the days to learn, instead of explore. i like to read and learn and be pushed in directions. it becomes an exploration, and i write, whether i am simply taking notes or stumbling into a guided tour of new territory.
following are some of these quotes i have found and loved. perhaps just a sentence will speak to you.
xo
m

Vincent van Gogh, from a letter to Theo van Gogh written c. March 1882 ​

Heather O’Neill

❝When I write, I bring all of my truths, even the Judas-truths that make me feel like the betrayer whose dirty hands are resting on the table for everyone to see, including God. For me, writing is less a declaration of those truths than it is my interrogation of them. Uncovering the darkness in me that led to some of the poems about my brother also lights up the hard, bright way in which I love him and the small wars I wage to win him back. The monsters and hoofermen I choose to look in the eyes and teeth when considering my rez and this country’s history are also the truths that have built in me a strength and compassion that help me to survive this world. Truth is that little animal we chase and chase until we suddenly glance over our shoulder and realize it has been chasing us all along.
- Natalie Diaz, for the Poetry Society of America

❝Writing is a dangerous profession. There is no telling what hole you may rip in society’s carefully woven master narrative.
- Danielle Orner 

❝Poem that opened you –
The opposite of a wound
Didn’t the world
Come pouring through?
​- Gregory Orr,  How Beautiful the Beloved

❝Poetry does not provide a narrative for you to subscribe to. Poetry erodes your confidence in narratives as a means of experiencing and understanding the world. I do not think there is anything on this planet that can do that with anywhere near the same ferocity and grace. I cannot speak for other planets.
- Roberto Montes, interviewed by Liz Axelrod for Luna Luna