Writer’s Desk: Just Put it Down

[image error]Earlier this week, Robert M. Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, died at the age of 88. Although the book, a philosophical rumination cast in the guise of a father-son road-trip novel, mostly holds true to its subtitle (“An Inquiry Into Values”), there’s also some solid writing advice to be found.

In the book, Pirsig is trying to help his son write a letter to his mother:

I tell him getting stuck is the commonest trouble of all. Usually, I say, your mind gets stuc...