No more cheery waves to the cars zooming past our house in the morning when I collect the papers. My high of peace and good will from the Festival of Faith and Writing has long since ended. However, there are a few lasting lessons that seem to be sticking with me. The enduring tidbits. Here they are:
1. Reading during the day counts. A few speakers mentioned the good friends they have stacked on their desks to start their writing day off. And it’s legal, apparently, to spend time in your working day reading well if it helps you write well.
2. Do you know what else is legal? Highlighting books. This from my two accomplished roommates. It was shocking. Then liberating.
3. Many wonderful published works took years and years to write. Some are warm and beautiful quilts stitched together from long ago bits of cloth.
4. Writer envy is normal. Pray for those who persecute you with their success. Pray they will have more of it. You will be let out of your jail.
5. Walking is part of writing. So is sleeping. You can work out big writing problems doing both of those things. And you’ll feel better about just about everything.