There are so many wonderful essays in Ray Bradbury’s Zen and the Art of Writing. If I could only read one, it would be “How to Feed and Care for your Muse.” I’m going to be very brief in telling you why, in hopes that you’ll hurriedly read through this post and dash off to get the book. It’s worth it.
To get you started on the essay, here’s how it begins:
It isn’t easy. Nobody has ever done it consistently. Those who try hardest, scare it off into the woods. Those who turn their backs and saunter along, whistling softly between their teeth, hear it treading quietly behind them, lured by a carefully acquired disdain.
We are of course speaking of The Muse.
Bradbury says to keep the muse you must offer food, and you must write a thousand words a day, for say, ten or twenty years. Yes, you read that right. A thousand words, decades.
Food? Stuff yourself with sounds, sights, tastes, and textures of people, animals, landscapes, events … Read poetry every day of your life. Read books of essays. Do everything with excitement, with fever, with ardor. Do what you want to do.
Go get the book right now, and read it with excitement and ardor.