I like the way Henry Miller's commandments did two things: they exhorted him to focus on his priority projects, and they acknowledged that the human brain does need to unplug every day and take time for other pursuits. Taken together, the rules helped him remember how to prioritize his work days. And I can really respect that.
On my wall is an anonymous quote: "Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet." (Ironically, I found this on the Internet, but that's beside the point.) As a writer, my own shortcoming is that I tend to drop out if a project gets particularly tough. I'd rather play Angry Birds than dig in and work through a writing conundrum. By the time I get back to it, I've forgotten most of my ideas, so the challenging piece sometimes doesn't even get written. That's why I liked these commandments. They spoke to me. They told me I'm not alone. They told me to keep trying.
But as you say, every writer is different, and thank goodness for that. If the only kind of writer were MY kind, there would be nothing challenging to read out there in the world, and only writers would have the highest scores on Angry Birds. :-)
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Date: 2012-03-12 05:15 pm (UTC)On my wall is an anonymous quote: "Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet." (Ironically, I found this on the Internet, but that's beside the point.) As a writer, my own shortcoming is that I tend to drop out if a project gets particularly tough. I'd rather play Angry Birds than dig in and work through a writing conundrum. By the time I get back to it, I've forgotten most of my ideas, so the challenging piece sometimes doesn't even get written. That's why I liked these commandments. They spoke to me. They told me I'm not alone. They told me to keep trying.
But as you say, every writer is different, and thank goodness for that. If the only kind of writer were MY kind, there would be nothing challenging to read out there in the world, and only writers would have the highest scores on Angry Birds. :-)