A bit of writing advice

 Natalie Goldberg tells the story of a Zen poet who wrote a haiku, perhaps a good one. But he didn’t think about that. When he was finished, he put the poem in a bottle and tossed it in the river.

Maybe that’s why some of us old writers read books on writing. Sometimes it helps to hear someone else say something you already know.

I’ve been working on a piece of writing, and it’s about time to let go.

•  Source: Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones; Boulder: Shambhala, 2016. She teaches writing at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, N.M., p. 130.