Writer’s Block and the Thesis

Last night I was chair of my Rostrum club’s meeting (Rostrum is a public speaking club).  As I am neck-deep in writing my phd and ARC reports, writing was top of mind.

I noted that Washington Irving was a famous author – in 19th century America, and I wondered whether anyone could name one of his very famous stories? Only two people had heard of Washington Irving, and no-one actually knew what he’d written.  The answer?  ‘The legend of Sleepy Hollow’ and ‘Rip Van Winkle’ are his two most famous stories.  My overall observation though was,  does the written word ensure our memory lives on?

With that happy thought, I then went on to write down some inspirational quotes on the art of writing.

• “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ~ Ray Bradbury
• “The older we get, the more… you realize there’s a whole range of things that you will never do, of things and people you will never be. As life becomes more and more limiting, there is something wonderful about being able to get inside the skin of people unlike yourself.” ~ Lee Smith
• “Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head.” ~ From the movie Finding Forrester
• “The best style is the style you don’t notice.” ~S omerset Maugham
• “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.” ~ William Goldman
• “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” ~ Mary Heaton Vorse
• “To write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write is to write.” ~ (Gertrude Stein)

This last one is my favourite.