I’m preparing for my first class with my creative-writing students this semester. What I’ve been doing so far is selecting a group of quotes I want to hand out. The quotes, from famous writers, are about why we write and what the real subjects of writing should be. They offer tips about the best way to put emotion into your writing — mostly, it seems, by not looking directly at it.
Every hour or so I take a break and go out to the garage. Our sixteen-year-old cat is curled on a blanket there. He has an awkward cast on one of his hind legs. I broke the leg three days ago when I accidentally backed over him with my car. The cat is deaf, or nearly so. He was sleeping under the car and must not have heard the engine crank. I felt the little bump of the wheel going over his leg and then saw him hobble away, dragging the useless limb.
