Monday, June 20, 2011

Listen to Taylor Mali

Taylor Mali is a poet even I have heard of.  (Trust me, that means something).  The thing I love about him is that his poetry is what my uncultured ears like to call 'accessible'.  Not because he's Down with the Kids, but because there's something about his work that screams "This is real!".

So I was excited when I ran across this little snippet from Taylor because it isn't the standard line most writers given when asked to offer advice to other writers.

Not "Just keep writing!".  Not "Write every day!".  Not "Write from the heart!".

Not.



Whether poetry, novel, short-form or a letter to your Mom, I think Mr. Mali's advice is utterly crucial to engaging with any living, breathing human being.  It's simple, yet true.  And it's why (I believe) his words ring with authenticity.  And, as it happens, authority.

Which is good, because he talks about that in this piece, which offers the very best advice for life and writing I've heard in a very long time:



Now, go forth my writerly friends and write down what is real - with conviction.

3 comments:

  1. Wow, awesome post! I shamefully hang my head when I say I've never heard of Taylor Mali, but he sounds way too cool. :) I'll have to check out more of his work.

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  2. The first video had no sound. I even tried it on Youtube.

    That second video resonated with me. I'm sick of hearing "like" and "okay." Now I'm off to write something with conviction.

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  3. Love Taylor Mali and love this post! With conviction I say, with conviction! :)

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