One Continuous Mistake : Four Nobel Truths for Writers

by Sher, Gail (Author)

• ISBN13: 9780140195873
• ISBN10: 0140195874
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

Based on the Zen philosophy that we learn more from our failures than from our successes, One Continuous Mistake teaches a refreshing new method for writing as spiritual practice. In this unique guide for writers of all levels, Gail Sher'a poet who is also a widely respected teacher of creative writing'combines the inspirational value of Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way with the spiritual focus of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Here she introduces a method of discipline that applies specific Zen practices to enhance and clarify creative work. She also discusses bodily postures that support writing, how to set up the appropriate writing regimen, and how to discover one's own "learning personality." In the tradition of such classics as Writing Down the Bones and If You Want to Write, One Continuous Mistake will help beginning writers gain access to their creative capabilities while serving as a perennial reference that working writers can turn to again and again for inspiration and direction.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii	(6)
Introduction	xiii
PART I A WRITING "HABIT"	1	(32)
EXERCISE: WRITING ZAZEN	3	(1)
1. Four Noble Truths for Writers	4	(2)
2. Pointing Directly at Your Own Heart, You'll Find Buddha	6	(2)
3. Single-Minded Effort	8	(3)
4. Grandmother's Fingerpointing	11	(5)
5. A Writing "Habit"	16	(3)
6. Waves of the Sea Belong to the Sea	19	(2)
7. Writing Posture	21	(2)
8. The Kiss of the Asp	23	(3)
9. The Writer's Middle Way	26	(3)
10. Distractions	29	(4)
PART II LIKE JESUS, IT'S FROM GOD, AND FROM YOU.	33	(36)
EXERCISE: WRITING KINHIN	35	(1)
11. Stay-at-Home Days	36	(2)
12. Fleeting Thoughts	38	(3)
13. Books Read Us	41	(2)
14. Reading Supports Writing -- But Watch Out!	43	(3)
15. Bleached-Bone Simplicity	46	(2)
16. Ode to a Drawer	48	(3)
17. The Rubbery Time of Revision	51	(2)
18. One Continuous Mistake	53	(3)
19. Like Jesus, it's from God. And from You.	56	(2)
20. Ping!	58	(2)
21. Five Pillars of Writing	60	(9)
PART III THE LESSON OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD	69	(26)
EXERCISE: SNEAKING UP ON YOUR MIND	71	(2)
22. Tigers in the Lowland	73	(3)
23. Invisible Practice	76	(2)
24. The Gentle Cycle	78	(4)
25. Writer's Block: The Magic Mountain	82	(2)
26. Writer's Anorexia: The Abuse of Creative Power	84	(4)
27. The Lesson of Little Red Riding Hood	88	(5)
28. Writing Parents	93	(2)
PART IV BEAUTY PLUS PITY	95	(26)
EXERCISE: WATCHING THE MIND	97	(1)
29. If I Think About Myself, Does That Mean I'm Selfish?	98	(3)
30. Writer-Jock	101	(2)
31. Writing and "Right" Livelihood	103	(3)
32. Who Is Writing Better Vedas?	106	(2)
33. Ripples on the Surface of the Water	108	(3)
34. Art Is Theft, Art Is Armed Robbery, Art Is Not Pleasing Your Mother	111	(3)
35. Beauty Plus Pity	114	(2)
36. A Button and a Few Bones	116	(3)
37. Life Is Not Killed	119	(2)
PART V A WORD IS A CHARGED SITUATION	121	(28)
EXERCISE: MOT JUSTE	123	(1)
38. Huckleberry "K"	124	(3)
39. Tibetan English	127	(3)
40. The Told Story	130	(3)
41. Art for Life's Sake	133	(4)
42. The Look of a Voice	137	(4)
43. Grasp the Thing, Words Will Follow	141	(3)
44. Wild by Law	144	(5)
PART VI "NO, NO -- POETRY IS SERIOUS! ZEN IS NOT SERIOUS."	149	(28)
EXERCISE: SILENCE IS NOT SILENCE IS NOT SILENCE	151	(1)
45. The Gospel According to This Moment	152	(3)
46. "Ashes Do Not Come Back to Firewood"	155	(2)
47. Lady Murasaki's Insight	157	(2)
48. Heron and I	159	(3)
49. Lean Words & Quietly	162	(4)
50. The Frida Kahlo Principle	166	(2)
51. An Angel in the House	168	(4)
52. Not Knowing	172	(3)
53. One World at a Time	175	(2)
APPENDICES	177	(22)
A. Guidelines for Beginning Writers of Haiku	179	(10)
B. Your Reading Personality	189	(4)
C. Your Learning Personality	193	(6)
Notes	199	(4)
Bibliography	203