A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.
C. S. LewisRead
What you want is practice, practice, practice. It doesn’t matter what we write (at least this is my view) at our age, so long as we write continually as well as we can. I feel that every time I write a page either of prose or of verse, with real effort, even if it’s thrown into the fire the next minute, I am so much further on.
Interpretation
Consistent practice in writing is essential for improvement, regardless of its immediate value.
C. S. Lewis emphasizes the importance of continuous practice in writing to enhance one's skills. He suggests that the act of writing itself is valuable, regardless of the end product, and that each effort contributes to personal growth and development as a writer.
In practice
In a writing workshop, to encourage participants, one might say, 'Remember, what you want is practice, practice, practice!'
A dogmatic belief in objective value is necessary to the very idea of a rule which is not tyranny or an obedience which is not slavery.
I enjoyed my breakfast this morning, and I think that was a good thing and do not think it was condemned by God. But I do not think myself a good man for enjoying it.
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.
Forgiving and being forgiven are two names for the same thing. The important thing is that a discord has been resolved.
I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. It doesn't change God - it changes me.
The instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred
Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge.
We are storytelling creatures, and as children we acquire language to tell those stories that we have inside us.
Merely gathering knowledge may become the most useless work a man can do. What can you do to help and heal the world? That is the educational test.
Working with great writers can be humbling and frightening, but it can also change you for good, forever.
The entering class I joined in 1956 included just nine women, up from five in the then second-year class, and only one African American. All professors, in those now-ancient days, were of the same race and sex.
You can’t learn to write in college. It’s a very bad place for writers because the teachers always think they know more than you do—and they don’t. They have prejudices. They may like Henry James, but what if you don’t want to write like Henry James? They may like John Irving, for instance, who’s the bore of all time. A lot of the people whose work they’ve taught in the schools for the last thirty years, I can’t understand why people read them and why they are taught.
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