Ladies and gentlemen, I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work – a life’s work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before. So this award is only mine in trust. It will not
For me, the act of writing is like drinking from a tinted blue glass filled with clear, cold water, the sides of the glass condensation-streaked with ice shards clinking against the heat of a summer day. The experience is waxing organic, like a growth in the soul. Phrases appear as exotic plant sprouts, joining together in a garden of mind-babble and intentional awareness where each thought is a separate and
There is no law, so far as we know, that says a man must use short words when he talks and long ones when he writes. Nor is there a rule to force us to seek out the big word when our thoughts run deep. In fact, when the urge to tell burns in us, we turn to the short word. When we swear, we slash and bruise with the
For the average person, engaging in some light conversion is enjoyable. For me, it’s akin to torture. That might seem like a gross exaggeration, but it’s the truth. I know that it will not get easier if I simply avoid it, so I force myself into conversation several times each day. Whether I’m asking a question in class or making small talk at work, I can’t speak to someone without
Fifteen or so years ago, I probably read more than most kids my age. I didn’t have a lot of friends or very involved parents, so I kept myself busy with books. To this day, I still own the entire first series of Goosebumps by R.L. Stine and Animorphs by K.A. Applegate. As with most books written for kids twelve and up, they lacked depth. I found that they also
