Revision/addition of 2011 post:

I read constantly. I love language. I write as a process toward clarity, so that my art-making process is more efficient, more precise, and has greater effect.

I have a confession to make, hidden in a post about writing: I am less interested in the finished piece of art as an aesthetic thing. I am interested in the process of making it: its motivation, its concept, its material form, its method of production, its process of manifestation, its presentation, its documentation, its display, its life in the world, your reaction to it. I am interested in the physical manifestation of the philosophic process of becoming and being. If you like an artwork and are attracted to its particular qualities, that is fabulous. If you can articulate what and why for me, that is what I really want. It helps me improve for the next go-round. The individual works of art are just place markers for me to understand the creative process and when it has been successful or not. This is probably why I am less concerned with the commercial value of the piece. The sale of the work relies on convincing a buyer of its worth. I think the participating in the process is worthy in and of itself. However, studio process takes time, and time costs money. And in order to do my best work I need your support, because my creativity adds great value to the world.

But back to writing:
I have a lot of friends who are writers, buy cialis 10mg rhetoricians, readers, editors and thinkers. I spend more time with these friends than I do with my artist friends. My language friends teach me things that complement my art practice. I am very grateful for this. I have friends whose brains amaze me. They proffer such gorgeous expertise. My ears are so lucky.

This website may have just changed my world:  –Literature-Map–  I just typed in my favorite two authors and saw names I’ve never heard of. How much to look forward to!

I’ve taken classes with –Saundra Goldman–, who amazes me. I highly recommend her writing classes and she also offers personal coaching.

I would like to take a workshop with –Natalie Goldberg–, who amazes me. One of my friends went to France to enjoy that.

I would like to take a workshop with –Ariel Gore–. She is in Santa Fe, the other town that feels like home to me.

Here are two of my favorite websites that serve as writing tools:
–Visual Thesaurus– which I love for many obvious reasons, and one a friend just turned me on to –Silva Rhetoricae– which helps me understand language.

Books on writing: The True Secret of Writing, by Natalie Goldberg. Rules for the Unruly, by Marion Winik. Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg. Teaching a Stone to Talk, by Annie Dillard. The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

Thanks Saundra for this one: openculture.com: richard-ford-jonathan-franzen-and-anne-enright-give-ten-candid-pieces-of-writing-advice

Send me more, please!