Top Highlights

• Never attempt to write what you don't care about.
• The secret is to gather, gather, gather—and do it in advance of any pressing need.
• Gathering Exercise 1. Stop reading for a while and take a little stroll with your blank book. Notice what fieldstones you notice. 2. When one catches your eye or ear or nose or fingers, switch your attention to your response. 3. If your response is lacking in energy, let the stone pass and move on to the next stone you notice. 4. If your response h...
• Security is mostly a superstition; it does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
• Gathering Exercise: Sentences 1. Next time you're reading, steal at least three sentences containing ideas that have energy for you. 2. Examine your collection and see if you can identify what energy attracted you to them. 3. How does this energy relate to the kinds of writing you're hoping to do? 4. De-plagiarize each of the sentences into the kin...