Wanting to Write -- Even Done Poorly

Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird has a passage in the introduction that resonates with me:

My students at writing workshops have a gift of loving to read, and some of them read
really fast, are good with words, and some aren't so fast, don't write all that well.
But they still love good writing, and they want to write. And I say, "Hey! Come on down!"

I am a slow reader and slow writer. My writing process is strange in that I re-read a sentence that I just wrote. I take a beat and re-read it again. I read it a few times more, and then write a few words. Returning to the first sentence, I do this torturous exercise over and over again. It's the only way I can write.

I love good writing though. I have a dull itch to write, even if it's poorly and for my own self-indulgence. I've noticed that it improves my thinking, and at work, I converse slightly more lucidly.

I am going to write more often and get those rounds in.