Thoughts on Writers About Writing

It's a dark, windy and cloudy night in Minneapolis. Its dark because its after 9:30pm. Its windy and cloudy because, at least, finally, we have some warm air.

I wouldn't be here doing this if I did not have some inclination to write. That inclination, like probably, your own, inclines me as well to read. When it comes to the subject of my reading, relative to writing, I'm particularly interested in the genre of the personal essays. Not diaries; for crying out loud, anyway, hey, I'm a guy. We journal. And I do journal, and personal essays are pretty close to the matter of journalling. But often my reading goes off into essays in general. Three places I like to read essays from include The American Scholar, The Atlantic, and volumes from the public library. The Best American Essays I find satisfying. But, oh, that paths you can travel.

Recently I became aware of the essayist Edward Hoagland. So I trudged off to the library -I actually drove because we're in Minnesota and the weather was not yet seasonable for biking- and I picked up three volumes of his writing and editing. Now Hoagland is -I've learned- a highly regarded essayist, and he writes mostly about matter or events pertaining to nature. Somehow or another he always is able to figure-in elements of nature. But he often also grouses about being called a "nature writer", and then he goes on about the "business", the "work" of writing. And, yes, it is work.

But in this recent set of reading, I became aware of two things: much of my focus in reading in recent years, I now realize, has been less on the subject matter at hand, and more on the skill, craft and technique of the writer; the other thing I came to notice while reading Hoagland -and others in BAE- is that they write an awful lot about, writing. Sometimes its just insinuated into the piece, off-handedly, and sometime it occupies great space and, always, much passion.

Now I might have just let those observations go except for the matter of sychronicity presenting itself again in my life. I almost always see sychronious events as instances of "a small world". In this instance I had gone to read Fresca's blog wherein on about the same day, she too was writing the very same observation. For me that was just the validation I need to know that I wasn't just making things up.

Then on top of that instance, two occurred today. A certain reader-writer-blogger had posted her concern about the obligations to relationship that accrue to those of us who agree to review and comment on one another. The issue she was addressing is an element of "writing" upon which writers make comment much in the vein that Fresca had blogged and I had read. In this case its an element that, indeed, is work.

The other instance occurred during brunch today with yet another blogger of some note, and a former colleague. As we addressed life matters we were on about the aging process and how aging, literally, takes a toll on one's relationships. To which Domenica noted the side value of maintaining many mixed relationship such that will sustain, in a reciprocity, in years to come. In this group I did not say it, but it did occur to me that "virtual" relationships too are important and over time accrue both value and commitment.

All of that is, one the one hand, all lot of synchronicity, while on the other hand, its a lot of affirmation through relationships such that the world and life keep making sense, and presenting those of us who would do it, something additional to write about other than, writing.