branta

the might of write

Author Archive

Why Arts Funding Matters as #nbvotes

By Ian LeTourneau • Sep 12th, 2010 • Category: Essays, Feature Post, Rants, Writing Routines

First, is art merely a hobby? For some, probably. But for those who take it seriously, it is not. Art takes tremendous determination, practice and time for it to evolve. I can only speak of writing because that is the artistic discipline I practice: much study needs to be undertaken to learn elements of craft (style, metaphor, prosody, etc.) and then much time needs to be spent to develop. A hobby is something done in spare time; art is, in many ways, an employment.


Ian LeTourneau’s Writing Routine

By Ian LeTourneau • Sep 6th, 2009 • Category: Feature Post, Writing Routines

For a while, I bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t find time to write everyday, which is something that at least makes you feel as though you are a writer. But then I found a copy of Sylvia Plath’s Letters Home-actually a first edition (for fifty cents!) in excellent shape at a local library sale-and read it cover to cover. On page 147, I read this: “The thing about writing is not to talk, but to do it; no matter how bad or even mediocre it is, the process and production is the thing, not the sitting and theorizing about how one should write ideally, or how well one could write if one really wanted to or had the time.” Plath’s aim at around this time was to have 20 pieces out at magazines. That gave me a wake-up call, as a writer. I would stop bemoaning and start producing.