I Am Free To Write The Worst

I Had Cancer For Fourteen Months And Wrote A Memoir About The Experience.

[t]he One Thing I Want For You Is To Recognize When You Are Really Singing In Writing Practice And Honor That. Trust That. When You Were Screaming On The Page. Maybe That Doesn't Make A Whole Book But That Is The True Seed.

I Write Because I Am Alone And Move Through The World Alone. No One Will Know What Has Passed Through Me... I Write Because There Are Stories That People Have Forgotten To Tell, Because I Am A Woman Trying To Stand Up In My Life... I Write Out Of Hurt And How To Make Hurt Okay; How To Make Myself Strong And Come Home, And It May Be The Only Real Home I'll Ever Have.

Katagiri Roshi Says: "poor Artists. They Suffer Very Much. They Finish A Masterpiece And They Are Not Satisfied. They Want To Go On And Do Another." Yes, But It's Better To Go On And Do Another If You Have The Urge Than To Start Drinking And Become Alcoholic Or Eat A Pound Of Good Fudge And Get Fat.

This Is The Practice School Of Writing. Like Running, The More You Do It, The Better You Get At It.