Now Featuring: Mary Ruefle

“If you’re going to dedicate your life to this, it’s not easy. It’s a challenge, and it’s going to be difficult. Don’t be afraid of the difficulty. Keep going. Above all, patience. Patience is what every writer needs, endless patience, because you only learn by doing, and it takes a lot of doing. You need patience. And if for any reason at all, you feel you one day want to stop and do something else, don’t ever ever ever feel bad about that decision or ashamed
in some way because everything is ultimately connected. Your journey is unpredictable, and it may be that getting an MFA led you slowly in this other direction. And that’s a beautiful thing too. Who knows? Nobody knows. I have encountered too many younger writers who were really frustrated and there were some who persisted and some who gave up and they both have meaningful lives. They have meaningful lives. One’s not better than the other. Follow the dictates of your heart, and, remember, mind and heart are interchangeable.”

Available now in Willow Springs 95!

Read the rest of the interview here.