the well of providence is deep ... it is the buckets we bring to it that are small ... Mary Webb



Saturday, August 14, 2010

inspiration

I just read a blog  by Chip MacGregor titled Metaphors, Collaborations...and a Story.

Chip is a literary agent, and I read his blog regularly.  I learn about the craft of writing, strategies for earning a living while and through writing, tips on setting up the business of writing, and publishing.  Though I wouldn't know him nor he me if we crossed on the same street, I think of Chip as a first name friend which is a little odd but also oddly okay with me and Chip as well, I imagine.

Today, it was the story that got me.

I don't think many writers come to this lifelong and often lonely work without a certain amount of idealism.  We want to make a difference, point to a new way of perceiving, shift, even for just a moment, the paradigm from what seems current to what seems possible.

Reading the story of how Sherwood Anderson mentored others, how his choice to invest in others influenced a whole century of writing, makes me feel a little melancholy with awe.  I'm fairly certain he didn't plan to have such an impact.  He was more likely just passing on what had been given to him.  Paying it forward to use a more modern turn of phrase.

I am grateful that there are others who are answering the call to mentor new writers. 

Chip MacGregor, for example.