Blog on William Stafford - Writing the Australian Crawl

 I was a bit hesitant when I first began reading Writing the Australian Crawl by William Stafford. This immediate hesitation began after watching his documentary in class. He didn't seem like an author I would find very interesting due to his lack of enthusiasm. However, I was pleasantly surprised after reading the first few assigned chapters. Although Stafford wasn't the most exciting person to watch on screen, he is an incredible poet with plenty of advice and knowledge to share. In my opinion, Stafford does an incredible job of writing in such a way that is easy to understand for anyone who chooses to pick up his work. He speaks, writes, and teaches simply. Knowing Stafford was a well-known poet, I was nervous he was going to have (for lack of a better word) “stuck-up”, or arrogant attitude. This was definitely not the case. Stafford came across as a very humble and kind man; his love for writing shines through each and every page.  A Way of Writing was one of my favorite readings in Writing the Australian Crawl. In this chapter, Stafford thoroughly explains his own personal writing process, while also expressing his own weaknesses. He briefly discusses the concept of “receptivity”; this is the first step to his writing process. Stafford will grab a pen and paper, sit by his window, and simply open his mind and wait for any thought to come. Not any specific or “intelligent” thought, just any inspirational idea that pops into his mind. 

“Along with initial receptivity, then, there is another readiness: I must be willing to fail. If I am to keep on writing, I cannot bother to insist on high standards. I must get into action and not let anything stop me, or even slow me much. By "standards" I do not mean "correctness" spelling, punctuation, and so on.”

I also love how Stafford explains his thoughts on “skills” when writing.  The idea that our creative writing and use of imagination is not solely based on skill is great. It shows that our unique creativeness comes from within ourselves, not the amount of experience or education we've received.

“They talk about "skills" in writing. Without denying that I do have experience, wide reading, automatic orthodoxies and maneuvers of various kinds, I still must insist that I am often baffled about what "skill" has to do with the precious little area of confusion when I do not know what I am going to say and then I find out what I am going to say. That precious interval I am unable to bridge by skill. What can I witness about it? It remains mysterious, just as all of us must feel puzzled about how we are so inventive…”