A Sacred Magic Can Elevate the Secular Storyteller
Writing, however, is getting more and more difficult. Not to repeat oneself is every writer’s obsession. Not to slide into sentimentality, not to imitate, not to spread oneself too thin. To respect words that are heavy with their own past. Every word both separates and links; it depends on the writer whether it becomes wound or balm, curse or promise. It would be simple and comfortable to play with words and win; all it takes is to play the game and practice a bit of self-delusion.
But for my generation, playing games is not an option. We need to bear witness, we need to hope, with Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav, that with a measure of luck, some of our testimonies will safeguard the essence of our prayer.
Ultimately the Jewish boy from my little Jewish town was wrong: writing is anything but easy.
–Elie Wiesel
from the New York Times’ Writers on Writing.
Sequoya Review 