I can't imagine ever writing anything of any kind on a machine. I never tried to write either poetry or prose on a typewriter. I like to do it on useless paper, scrap paper, because it's of no importance.
W. S. MerwinRead
The kind of writing that matters most to me is something you don't learn about. It's constantly coming out of what I don't know rather than what I do know.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The most significant writing emerges from exploring the unknown rather than relying solely on existing knowledge.
W. S. Merwin expresses that impactful writing is born from the depths of uncertainty and curiosity rather than established facts or knowledge. This perspective emphasizes the importance of vulnerability, exploration, and personal discovery in the creative process, suggesting that great art often stems from a desire to understand what is beyond our current understanding.
Themes
WritingCreativityExplorationKnowledgeUnknown
In practice
Example use cases
In a writing workshop, this quote can inspire students to embrace their uncertainties.
More from W. S. Merwin
All quotes βI think there's a kind of desperate hope built into poetry that one really wants, hopelessly, to save the world. One is trying to say everything that can be said for the things that one loves while there's still time.
W. S. MerwinRead
I say to my breath once again, little breath come from in front of me, go away behind me, row me quietly now, as far as you can, for I am an abyss that I am trying to cross.
W. S. MerwinRead
Through all of youth I was looking for you_x000D_ without knowing what I was looking for_x000D_ part memory part distance remaining _x000D_ mine in the ways that I learn to miss you_x000D_ from what we cannot hold the stars are made.
W. S. MerwinRead
What I really believe is the only hopeful relation between our life and the whole of life is one of reverence and respect and of feeling at one with it. The other attitude which is the one our society is based on is devastating and it is killing the earth and it is killing us too.
W. S. MerwinRead
I go five steps in the garden, and I immediately lose track of time... it is a kind of joy in being alive in being in the world. I always found that in the garden. That is what it means to me.
W. S. MerwinRead
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