Work continues on the revision of an essay that’s really important to me. It’s getting closer to coherence, meaning, and shape, but it’s not exactly… singing.

Sometimes you come across the words of wisdom from another writer, right when you need to read them. The weekly issue of the Grub Street e-mail newsletter hit my inbox, with this remark in the banner:

The story is always better than your ability to write it. My belief about this is that if you ever get to the point that you think you’ve done a story justice, you’re in the wrong business. ~Robin McKinley

Substitute “essay” for “story,” and this comforts me. Perhaps reaching for the essay (the vision of the essay?) is what makes the writing go.

And who is Robin McKinley? I don’t know. But his/her words make me want to know more.