I am transcribing a book that I have, in a sense, not yet written, and in another sense, have always written, and in another sense, am currently writing, and in another sense, am always writing, and in another sense, will never write.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the complex relationship between creation, existence, and time in writing.
Charles Yu's quote delves into the intricacies of the writing process, suggesting that the act of writing is not a linear endeavor. Instead, it represents a continuous and evolving journey where past, present, and future intertwine, highlighting the perpetual state of creation and the inherent struggle of articulation that every writer experiences.
In practice
In a creative writing workshop, one might share this quote to encourage participants to reflect on their writing journeys.
I had forgotten: this is what it feels like to live in time. The lurching forward, the sensation of falling of a cliff into darkness, and then landing abruptly, surprised, confused, and then starting the whole process again in the next moment, doing that over and over again, falling into each instant of time and then climbing back up only to repeat the process.
All of her heart, a meaningless phrase, but correct and precise, too. She used her heart to love him, not her head, and not her words and not her thoughts or ideas or feelings or any other vehicle or object or device people use to deliver love or love-like things.
Enjoy the elastic present, which can accommodate as little or as much as you want to put in there. Stretch it out, live inside of it.
Maybe we spend most of our decades being someone else, avoiding ourselves, maybe a man is only himself, his true self, for a few days in his entire life.
You want to tell a story? Grow a heart. Grow two. Now, with the second heart, smash the first one into bits.
Sometimes we talked about the nature of the human soul and about the Cosmic Unity of souls that I had believed in so firmly when I was 15 years old. My mother did not like the phrase Cosmic Unity. It was too pretentious. She preferred to call it a world soul.
My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my meat just keeps right on doing bad, dumb things.
People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.
The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.
You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too.
The true principle of government is this - make the system compleat in its structure; give a perfect proportion and balance to its parts; and the powers you give it will never affect your security.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.