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ENTRY
Time and energy
March 30, 2010
My friend Pat Hatman, writer and artist and blogger posted this: "The art life isn't for the weak. You'll probably stay poor and be thought a fool by almost everyone. Sometimes even you will be certain that you are a fool. Either that, or the most spectacular undiscovered genius on the continent. The trick is to dismiss the former thought and hold onto the other one, and convince yourself that what you're doing is the most important thing there is. ... Writing a book is like having a baby. If you wait until you can afford it, you'll never do it. Just like being pregnant, writing a book takes precedence over everything else. You want to have the right diet and good sleep, and the right mindset and a good mentor. The chief qualifying factor is the willingness to stay with it. Alexander Woollcott had a great line about aspiring writers: 'If anything can stop them it is probably no great loss.'" Read Pat's blog entry here.
Pat is quite right about time being a writer's greatest asset, but I would add that it depends on what you get done with the time you have. Whenever I have had a fulltime job, my personal writing hours were focused and productive. I have been lucky enough in the last several months to have nothing to do but write. Unfortunately I seem to get about as much written as I do when I was fully employed. I want to write more, but my writing time seems less focused and productive. Maybe I only have a set amount of daily writing energy or insight. I don't know, but it's a little frustrating sometimes.
I've decided to write a shorter amount of time, but more focused with higher energy. At least I get something accomplished. With the rest of my time I can do other things that should be done, like this blog or a book review or the garden. Or golf (yes!). And I feel better about not sitting at the computer supposed to be writing but can't seem to muster up the energy.
© 2013
March 30, 2010
My friend Pat Hatman, writer and artist and blogger posted this: "The art life isn't for the weak. You'll probably stay poor and be thought a fool by almost everyone. Sometimes even you will be certain that you are a fool. Either that, or the most spectacular undiscovered genius on the continent. The trick is to dismiss the former thought and hold onto the other one, and convince yourself that what you're doing is the most important thing there is. ... Writing a book is like having a baby. If you wait until you can afford it, you'll never do it. Just like being pregnant, writing a book takes precedence over everything else. You want to have the right diet and good sleep, and the right mindset and a good mentor. The chief qualifying factor is the willingness to stay with it. Alexander Woollcott had a great line about aspiring writers: 'If anything can stop them it is probably no great loss.'" Read Pat's blog entry here.
Pat is quite right about time being a writer's greatest asset, but I would add that it depends on what you get done with the time you have. Whenever I have had a fulltime job, my personal writing hours were focused and productive. I have been lucky enough in the last several months to have nothing to do but write. Unfortunately I seem to get about as much written as I do when I was fully employed. I want to write more, but my writing time seems less focused and productive. Maybe I only have a set amount of daily writing energy or insight. I don't know, but it's a little frustrating sometimes.
I've decided to write a shorter amount of time, but more focused with higher energy. At least I get something accomplished. With the rest of my time I can do other things that should be done, like this blog or a book review or the garden. Or golf (yes!). And I feel better about not sitting at the computer supposed to be writing but can't seem to muster up the energy.
© 2013
COMMENTS
Number of comments: 2
click here to add a comment
Jo Reed
I think about this a lot, wanting to spend all day writing, but then deciding that is self-imposed torture. A couple hours max for me.
Jo Reed
But golf is also self-imposed torture...
click here to add a comment
Jo Reed
I think about this a lot, wanting to spend all day writing, but then deciding that is self-imposed torture. A couple hours max for me.
Jo Reed
But golf is also self-imposed torture...
ARCHIVE
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Review: Botchan
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September 23, 2009 (1)
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Review: The Goddess Chronicle
May 28, 2013 (1)
Review: Paprika
April 21, 2013 (3)
Review: A Straight Road With 99 Curves
March 30, 2013 (1)
Gripping writing
Feb. 28, 2013 (2)
Review: Salvation of a Saint
January 19, 2013 (2)
2012 in review
December 30, 2012 (2)
Review: Ninja
September 30, 2012 (2)
Review: My Postwar Life
August 21, 2012 (1)
New interview with Colin Marshall
July 15, 2012 (3)
Book events
April 25, 2012 (2)
Subduction
March 14, 2012 (8)
Review: A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard
January 14, 2012 (1)
Review: Plainsong
December 20, 2011 (3)
Review: The Devil's Disciple
November 29, 2011 (2)
Haruki Murakami
October 5, 2011 (2)
Busyness and demons
September 25, 2011 (2)
Characters: The Bully
July 30, 2011 (3)
Review: Manazuru
June 28, 2011 (2)
Deadlines!
June 24, 2011 (2)
Review: Butterfly's Sisters
May 18, 2011 (1)
Review: Isle of Dreams
April 20, 2011 (2)
Cades Award for Literature press release
April 12, 2011 (2)
Japan and other news
March 29, 2011 (1)
Borders bankruptcy
February 17, 2011 (2)
2010 review
December 17, 2010 (6)
Congratulations Mario Vargas Llosa
October 7, 2010 (2)
OH! wins best book award
September 23, 2010 (2)
Review: Kissing the Mask
August 22, 2010 (1)
Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins
July 12, 2010 (2)
Review: Love in Translation
June 22, 2010 (3)
Jose Saramago
June 18, 2010 (0)
Marketplace of Ideas interview
June 11, 2010 (2)
Imagining Memory
May 6, 2010 (1)
Upcoming Los Angeles events
April 7, 2010 (2)
Time and energy
March 30, 2010 (2)
Review: Botchan
February 28, 2010 (2)
J.D. Salinger
January 28, 2010 (1)
2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009 (5)
Review: The Word Book
December 12, 2009 (1)
Chaat and Chat event with OH!
November 6, 2009 (2)
Home at last
November 2, 2009 (2)
Los Angeles events
October 17, 2009 (1)
Poets and poetry
October 7, 2009 (1)
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September 24, 2009 (1)
The future of books
September 23, 2009 (1)
October book tour
September 6, 2009 (1)
Blogging at Powell's Books
August 28, 2009 (2)
The evolution of an idea
August 3, 2009 (1)
The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey
July 9, 2009 (2)
Tour debrief
July 2, 2009 (3)
Book tour events
May 18, 2009 (3)
Simply in the mood
April 24, 2009 (2)
Book tour
April 8, 2009 (6)
The Necessary Book
March 2, 2009 (2)
"Murder Makes the Magazine"
February 7, 2009 (3)
John Updike
January 27, 2009 (2)
2008 misc. (good news, bad news)
January 1, 2009 (3)
Publishing woes and query letters
December 13, 2008 (4)
Punctuation compunction
November 16, 2008 (3)
The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas)
October 10, 2008 (2)
David Foster Wallace
September 14, 2008 (2)
Ending it all
September 12, 2008 (2)
The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries
August 29, 2008 (3)
Blocking out the block
August 20, 2008 (3)
"What kind of books do you write?"
August 8, 2008 (2)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008 (3)
Show and tell
July 14, 2008 (3)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3
July 7, 2008 (7)
Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me)
June 30, 2008 (6)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2
June 18, 2008 (3)
To be or not to be
June 10, 2008 (6)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1
June 3, 2008 (6)
Virtual unreality
May 31, 2008 (4)
The purpose of this blog
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