My new favorite quote from none other than the book I said would be my favorite. You didn't believe me? Believe me. Some people say I have too many favorite things. But I say I have to, it's so rare to find a favorite that I really want to keep the all ones I have.
So this quote, it's been added to my pile of favorites.
Mostly because it's the sort of thing I say to myself every single time I sit down to write. Or to sew. Or to paint. Or to speak. It doesn't have to be perfect, I say, it just has to communicate.
I sat in the rocker this morning, next to the woodstove, and stared a painting on the wall that was my nemesis for a month a few years ago. My art teacher was demanding of me--standing over my shoulder with furrowed brows and not many words. He frightened me into believing I could do better than misshaped monochromatic still-lifes, and later pushed me to paint
Why?
Because he told me to stop making art and just communicate.
Just tell the story, don't make it pretty, don't fill in the white space, don't over-communicate, give meaning to every color and stroke--and eliminate anything that doesn't add.
In good poetry we omit every word unless it has integral meaning attached to it. At least two layers of meaning, better if it has more. That's how important a word is.
One word.
Or two. Just make sense.
The rest will work itself out.
