On the Line

A grateful writer never, ever complains about having too much work. A grateful writer is also a good writer, and when one deadline rolls right into another, a good, grateful writer learns how to write constantly, and write well. That’s about where I’m at right now.

It must be something about the springtime, because there are no lack of interesting people, exciting events and stories that need telling this month. Fresh off the Sidelines deadline, a new, longer, list of assignments awaits my attention. I don’t get writer’s block (at least that’s what I tell myself), but sometimes my notes from an interview or a half-finished story start to look like an unintelligible jumble of nonsense. When this happens I a.) eat some almonds because I heard they’re good for your brain, and b.) read something by Susan Orlean. The New Yorker staff writer and author of The Orchid Thief can expose a person’s soul in one sentence. I covet the articles she writes for The New Yorker, many of which are on her website here, or in her book of profiles, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup.

Photo ©Kelly Davidson

When I asked her if she’d written much about horses, she graciously wrote me back and admitted that no, aside from one article on racing many years ago for Oregon Horse Magazine, she hasn’t. But she did point me towards an article she wrote about mules serving in the military in this year’s February 15 & 22 edition of The New Yorker. So I study her attention to detail:

“Coles, who has had a veterinary practice in Sumner County since 1975, is rumpled and bemused, with a thatch of grey hair and an ambling way with a tale.”

And especially the way she can humanize an animal:

“Next in the ring was a chestnut mule with a bristling blond mane and the sleepy, watchful gaze of a bank guard.”

Maybe it’s a good thing she doesn’t write about horses – I’d be out of a job!

In any case, if you need a little inspiration for whatever reason this Friday, check her out. She was my hero even before Meryl Streep played her in a movie.