Some reflections on the arduous nature of the writing process:
On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away.
Even when passages seemed to come easily, as though I were copying from a folio held open by smiling angels, the manuscript revealed the usual signs of struggle – bloodstains, teethmarks, gashes, and burns.
(from Annie Dillard, The Writing Life)
In my experience, smiling angels are a rare occurrence; the bloodstains etc. I can relate to only too well.
ypography, another fascination of mine. Although it is one that I have been paying far too little attention to in recent years. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps I have been too preoccupied with work. Beauty is important though because it lifts the spirit. It really ought not to be neglected. Having begun to realise that I have been quite wrong to do so, I am all the more determined to make time for the contemplation and pursuit of beauty.
Brief thoughts & quotes … 