The Joy of Writing on a Rainy Day
What about a writing project brings you joy?
Last week I taught my last writing class of the quarter at UC Davis.
Using this prompt, I asked my juniors and seniors to reflect upon their writing plans moving forward: 1) How will writing function for you after UC Davis, whether on the job or in graduate school? 2) How might you additionally use writing to reflect upon or plan for other goals, whether they be creative, professional, contemplative?
People in leadership and productivity circles contend that writing clarifies the writer’s thinking, improves the writer’s communication skills, strengthens discipline that could be applied to other fields, encourages reflection, and preserves ideas and memories that might otherwise be easily lost. One can also explore centeredness and mindfulness with writing.
While I don’t subscribe to the idea that shutting down the Department of Education would solve our educational challenges, I do worry about the diminishing appreciation for writing and literature—especially poetry—among some students. The act of writing, the consumption of writing, and the act of sharing one’s writing are all sustaining joys of mine.
I’m not alone. I’ve been collecting quotations from notable authors about writing and writing processes, and as you will see from the following list, many established writers also focus on the joy of writing.
"I write because writing is fun." (Dorianne Laux)
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“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” (James A. Michener)
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“Writing is a fine thing, because it combines the two pleasures of talking to yourself and talking to a crowd.” (Cesare Pavese)
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“I never feel more myself than when I’m writing; I never enjoy any day more than a good writing day.” (Anthony Minghella)
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"Well, I think it’s extraordinarily fun to write, and I look forward to it every day, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s easy. There’s a difference between the two. It’s fun in the way all worthwhile things are fun – there’s difficulty attached to it." (David Guterson)
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“I love writing. I never feel really comfortable unless I am either actually writing or have a story going. I could not stop writing.” (P.G. Wodehouse)
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"The books I write because I want to read them, the games because I want to play them, and stories I tell because I find them exciting personally." (Gary Gygax)
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"I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge." (Gwendolyn Brooks)
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"I'm just going to write because I cannot help it." (Charlotte Bronte C5)
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"I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it." (Jonathan Winters)
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“It is the moment I feel anything is possible, and I know the elation of being a writer.” (Patricia Reilly Giff)
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"Writing is its own reward." (Henry Miller)
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“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." (Walter Bagehot)
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“Enter the writing process with a childlike sense of wonder and discovery. Let it surprise you.” (Charles Ghigna)
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“There is pleasure from learning the simple truth, and there is a pleasure from learning that the truth is not simple.” (Wayne Booth)
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“I love the work: the grind, the dreaming, the distracted not-sleep, all of it. It’s the one thing in the job that will always be there, and the real pleasure in the profession. Everything else is luck.” (Glen Hirshberg)
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“The only joy in the world is to begin.” (Cesar Pavese)
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“One of the pleasant things those of us who write or paint do is to have the daily miracle. It does come.” (Gertrude Stein)
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“A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter.” (E.B. White)
Perhaps inspired by some of these words of wisdom, I invite you to reflect on the questions I asked my students. How is your life richer because of your voluntary writing projects?
If you would like to subscribe to my weekly pub quiz, please visit my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three pub quiz questions from last week:
Science. The fastest animal on the planet is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. Name it.
Books and Authors. What scientist’s last book, Radioactivity, was published posthumously in 1935?
Sports. What primarily left fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960 was the last player to bat over .400 in a season?
P.S. Our next Poetry Night will feature storytelling on National Storytelling Day, March 20th. Join us at 7 PM at the John Natsoulas Gallery.
I think #3 is Ted Williams. Maybe.
I owe a teacher for my poetry. 3rd grade. She spent a piece of our afternoons on poetry, pretty basic stuff. We had to write one poem each at the end of each week. One. That was 1963 or 1964. I'm still going. As long as my body moves and my mind thinks, I will never stop. Rose Johnson. BIPOC.
It’s daydreaming codified and structured, and I’ve always loved and needed daydreaming.