Choice Words

I finished reading Choice Words: The Borgo Press Book of Writers Writing about Writing. It’s from Borgo Press, edited by Borgo’s Robert Reginald. There’s an introduction by Reginald, as well as 19 articles on various aspects of the writer’s world. There are pieces on poetry, play-writing, collaboration, and translating. There’s an essay on writing sex scenes, as well as some tip pieces. The book reprints two of my pieces from Write With Fire, “Tipping the Odds in Your Favor” and “Writing with Purpose,” as well as a piece called “Preparing and Writing” from Writing in Psychology: A Guidebook.

I found a lot of food for thought in the collection and feel comfortable recommending it for anyone interested in writing. I don’t believe I’m being unduly influenced by having some of my own stuff in the book. I particularly found two pieces by Ardath Mayhar to be helpful and informative. These were “”Dispatch from the Front: Never Waste Anything,” and “How not to Starve as a Writer.”

I’ll relate an idea that I found very interesting in “Writing for the Stage,” by Francis Jarman. Now, I’ve never been much interested in playwriting but it’s a discipline I can admire. In this piece, Jarman, talks about the “duende.” The duende is one of three parts of an artist’s inspiration (the other two are the muse and the angel), as proposed by the Spanish poet and playwright Lorca. The duenda is “a dark, sudden, Dionysiac inspiration that rises up from sources too deep to be grasped logically… The duenda wounds.”

The duenda wounds. It pushes you to the edge. I like that. I think it’s important. And I think I’ve left my duenda dormant for too long.

Time for some darkness.

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