There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident.
Interpretation
Writing can bring unexpected joy through spontaneous creativity and discoveries.
H. L. Mencken's quote highlights the intrinsic pleasure and unexpected delights that come with the act of writing. It celebrates the idea that in the process of creating, writers often stumble upon new insights or ideas that bring satisfaction and inspiration, turning what may start as mere accidents into meaningful discoveries.
In practice
This quote can be used in a writing workshop to inspire participants to embrace unexpected moments while writing.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
If I had a talent, it was for looking askew at everything, possibly more than my contemporaries. But I had to really push myself to be a writer.
Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind.
I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry ο¬rst, ο¬nds he can't, and then tries the short story, which is the most demanding form after poetry. And, failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.
Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo! By water, wood and hill, by reed and willow, By fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us! Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!
Every canvas is a journey all its own.
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.