Dear Friends,
Today I taught my last writing class of the quarter at UC Davis.
Using this prompt, I asked my juniors and seniors to reflect upon their writing plans moving forward: 1) How will writing function for you after UC Davis, whether on the job or in graduate school? 2) How might you additionally use writing to reflect upon or plan for other goals, whether they be creative, professional, contemplative?
While I don’t subscribe to the idea that shutting down the Department of Education would solve our educational challenges, I do worry about the diminishing appreciation for writing and literature—especially poetry—among some students. The act of writing, the consumption of writing, and the act of sharing one’s writing are all sustaining joys of mine.
I’m not alone. I’ve been collecting quotations from notable authors about writing and writing processes, and as you will see from the following list, many established writers also focus on the joy of writing.
“I write because writing is fun.” (Dorianne Laux)
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“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” (James A. Michener)
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“Writing is a fine thing, because it combines the two pleasures of talking to yourself and talking to a crowd.” (Cesare Pavese)
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“I never feel more myself than when I’m writing; I never enjoy any day more than a good writing day.” (Anthony Minghella)
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“Well, I think it’s extraordinarily fun to write, and I look forward to it every day, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s easy. There’s a difference between the two. It’s fun in the way all worthwhile things are fun – there’s difficulty attached to it.” (David Guterson)
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“I love writing. I never feel really comfortable unless I am either actually writing or have a story going. I could not stop writing.” (P.G. Wodehouse)
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“The books I write because I want to read them, the games because I want to play them, and stories I tell because I find them exciting personally.” (Gary Gygax)
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“I felt that I had to write. Even if I had never been published, I knew that I would go on writing, enjoying it and experiencing the challenge.” (Gwendolyn Brooks)
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“I’m just going to write because I cannot help it.” (Charlotte Bronte C5)
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“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” (Jonathan Winters)
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“It is the moment I feel anything is possible, and I know the elation of being a writer.” (Patricia Reilly Giff)
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“Writing is its own reward.” (Henry Miller)
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“Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt)
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“The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” (Walter Bagehot)
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“Enter the writing process with a childlike sense of wonder and discovery. Let it surprise you.” (Charles Ghigna)
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“There is pleasure from learning the simple truth, and there is a pleasure from learning that the truth is not simple.” (Wayne Booth)
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“I love the work: the grind, the dreaming, the distracted not-sleep, all of it. It’s the one thing in the job that will always be there, and the real pleasure in the profession. Everything else is luck.” (Glen Hirshberg)
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“The only joy in the world is to begin.” (Cesar Pavese)
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“One of the pleasant things those of us who write or paint do is to have the daily miracle. It does come.” (Gertrude Stein)
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“A writer should concern himself with whatever absorbs his fancy, stirs his heart, and unlimbers his typewriter.” (E.B. White)
Perhaps inspired by some of these words of wisdom, I invite you to reflect on the questions I asked my students. Do you feel that your life is richer because of your own voluntary writing projects?
There will be a substitute Quizmaster running tonight’s pub quiz (which I wrote). I’m grateful to pub quiz regular James Raasch (and a member of last week’s championship team) for standing in today. A trained actor and singer, James will raise expectations for future quizzes hosted by merely me.
James has brought to life roles in The People in the Picture, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Man of La Mancha, A Spoonful of Sherman, Sunday in the Park With George, A Statue for Ballybunion, and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Sondheim on Sondheim. Impressively, James served in the Navy band as conductor, staff composer/arranger, unit leader, vocalist, and instrumentalist (playing the trumpet, horn, trombone, and keyboards). He has performed around the globe.
Other favorite productions include playing the title role in Sweeney Todd, Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music, and Bert in Mary Poppins. Music direction credits include West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Little Women, Legally Blonde, My Fair Lady, and Annie.
We are lucky to have him sub for me at the Pub Quiz tonight.
The temperatures will be in the 50s this evening, but it will be rainy, so you may want to enjoy the quiz from indoors. James will keep the quiz moving—this week’s questions are succinct, totaling just 787 words.
In addition to topics raised above, expect questions tonight on the art genres, Matt Damon, princes, singer-songwriters, fuel, soccer, biggest hits, dog breeds, automated quotations, college-inspired projects, coffee, runners-up, American authors, Italian men, phantoms, basketball, American comedians, popular songs that are not sung, wetlands, groan worthy jokes, African countries, March happenstances, merry tasks, moles, UC Davis choices, presidential homes, science words that start with C, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare.
For more Pub Quiz fun please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 60 members now! Thanks especially to new subscribers Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. Maybe next week it will be you! I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, whose players or substitutes keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the cost of avocado. Thanks in particular to Ellen and to everyone who donated towards the Jukie Duren Endowment at the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Foundation. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Three questions from last week:
- Science. The fastest animal on the planet is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. Name it.
- Books and Authors. What scientist’s last book, Radioactivity, was published posthumously in 1935?
- Sports. What primarily left fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960 was the last player to bat over .400 in a season?
P. P.P.S. Today on my 5 PM KDVS radio show I will be interviewing Grant Faulkner (starting at 5:30).
P.P.S. Our next Poetry Night will feature storytelling on National Storytelling Day, March 20th.