This is something Jonathan Fisher says in The Writer. In certain ways, this particular statement holds a lot of truth. You have to take a step back, see things for what they are, and then write about them. You have to become an observer, you have to put your life on hold. You have to spend a lot of time inside your head, a lot of time all by yourself, in your living room, scribbling down one word after another.
Simply put, writing is a solitary job. And the inexorable truth is that solitude transforms you. When you sit down at your desk, you’re on your own.
There’s only one question that matters: are you willing to pay the price?
Are you willing to become a shadow?
I’m just now realizing how much I want to live. You know, to see the world, to do stuff. How much I need to fall in love. I spent a lot of time just writing. Because, to be honest, there wasn’t anything else for me to do. It’s sad, I know, but it’s the truth.
If writing were as simple as putting pen to paper, we’d have lots of brilliant writers. But it’s not as easy as it seems. It’s not just about perseverance and hard work, about dedication and ambition. It’s not about some x-factor, impossible to define. Some God-given gift.
“The more you write, the less you feel alive,” says Jonathan Fisher.
This is something few people really talk about. It doesn’t help you sell books, it doesn’t inspire you to write more. Or better.
Of course, some would say that you need to find a balance, between work and life, just like any other job. But the point is that you spend a lot of time being a writer, far more than you spend writing. You create stories, play around in a world that doesn’t exist. While driving, while in the bus, in the shower, while cooking, you get ideas. You write inside your head… you think about this or that plot twist.
Or sometimes something happens. You see something, you hear something… and time stops. The world freezes just so you can analyze and understand what’s going on. A moment so powerful, rich, filled with inspiration, that you don’t want it to stop.
And you spend a lot of time, long after the moment has dissipated, replaying it, over and over again, wondering about what exactly resonated with you on such a deep level. What is it that makes this moment so special?
Rarely you get a chance to intervene. To do something other than observe. For you, it’s enough just to witness, to be there.
Just alive enough so you can see and hear and smell the world around you, but never quite alive enough to actually live.
There are those who won’t agree with me. Or Jonathan Fisher. And I respect that. So, all I ask is that you respect this opinion. My opinion.
“You either write or live. And every writer is bound to find that out someday.”
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Excellent post! Though I must say that in my opinion, it is through great and excessive living that you find great writing!
That's something I haven't addressed in this post, mostly because it's a strange paradox. Most of my stories are, to a large extent, inspired by life events. The first story I wrote that was somewhat successful, I wrote it about a girl. Yeah, it was magical realism, it had all kinds of strange characters and stuff, but it was basically about this girl I loved when I was young.
"Remember" is also about a girl. "Jazz," that one's about a girl I never had (and never will). A sad, sad symphony is about my own fear of dying without leaving my mark on the world, and about wanting too much to create something wonderful, a masterpiece.
And "The Writer" is pretty much the story of a very young, very scared to do stuff, Cristian Mihai. That Cristian Mihai died a long time ago, but I still remember him. Introvert, always alone, always bitter and disappointed by how easy life seemed to be for others. But he was also a guy who loved people, in a strange way… a selfish way, I might add.
Everything I wrote, everything I'll ever wrote will be about something that affected me somehow. There's no doubt about it… also, there's no doubt that the more you live, the more things you'll have to write about. The trouble is that when you do start to write them down, you temporarily have to put your life on hold.
That's a great point! Unless you scribble everything on napkins and random spaces on your walls, at odd hours of the day. Your posts are excellent reads, so whatever you're doing is definitely working, I have found that even the disappointments end up turning into great stories, though maybe sometimes we wish we could have done without them. Best Wishes!
Have you read this article by Silas House in a recent NY Times? http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/t…
What he describes is living with a still mind. It's almost like a special artistic form of mindfulness.
This is how I do my best writing: I live a busy, active, very social life in a tiny apartment with a wonderful spouse and a few rowdy kids. Yet, inside my mind, there is a little corner that considers it all and files the best bits away for future use. I am essentially prewriting as I walk about my every day existence. Yes, the rough drafts and rewrites are accomplished on my own, but I have a writing group and do a lot of my "research" while raising my kids and being a good spouse (I hope). In this way, I've published a picture book, have almost (G-d-willing, soon I'll be subbing them!) finished two novels, written & published a serial, and regularly sell short stories. Not all artists are lonely, solitary types.
This reminds me of a writer's quote I heard somewhere that went something along the lines of "It's not about what you experience, it's about how much attention you pay to what you do experience."
While I see much truth in this, I can't say that this is the way it works for me. I write, in large part, to connect with others. In that way, writing is part of my living. A very large puzzle piece, a vital supporting block on a growing tower, a piece of me that touches and effects every other piece of me… but I feel that it makes me more grounded in reality, not less.
And especially now that I've made other in-person writer friends, I get up to all sorts of living-stuff, in the emotional sense, the traveling about sense, and more. And we talking about my world and theirs and the other person's, but we also speak of and move in the world around us.
Those are my thoughts. I do respect your opinion; every man's reality is his own, as is every man's writing (and its place in that reality).
I love writing now, but I've lived most of my adult life with so much life that I never had the time to write (well, not exactly, I had the time, but I didn't think I did!) If you have a choice between living and writing then I would say live. Go outside! Be in the world! Yes and write. But give yourself as much time to live and you do to write. IMHO of course! :D
This is true for me. I write, I don't live. I sit in my apartment, day after day, writing. When I'm not doing that, I'm editing other people's writing. I don't live nearly as much as I used to.
Sometimes, I get a bug up my ass and put the writing aside… and then I wonder what to do, how to fill the time. I don't know anymore. Writing has filled my spare time for almost two years.
I'm lucky in one respect: I'm also a photographer, and when the weather's good, I make a point to get out with the camera and enjoy it. I'm still observing life, but at least I'm out in the world.
Yes, it sounds rather bleak. However, I can testify to the fact that my moments of greatest creativity, whether they be in art, writing or designing, are those times when I have had the least stimulus from anything outside myself . . . or, as you put it, when I was "living" less. We tend to try to fill every void with activity, with joy, with something outside ourselves. Yet the very fact we are writers (creators) means we have lived and do live life to the fullest . . . and often have experienced great sadness, loneliness and extremes of every sort. Those experiences are what define life, not the happy times, the love, the "busyness" of living. The man who has no unhappy moments, no valleys of hopelessness and no trials has very little to offer in the written word that others would find valuable.
Those of us who have had our share of loneliness, sorrow, depression, and challenge (life) are the ones with the most to share, and this IS our life . . . to reach out and pluck the wilting rose off the barrenness of our soul and share it . . . to say, if nothing else: I lived through these moments and I made it This is the message of hope the world longs to hear, the one the world has to hear, for then and only then have we done our job as creators. LIFE is the ultimate inspiration for all creative release.
As a writer, I find my life has never gone into a holding pattern. I am a mother, grandmother, artist, widow, publisher and beaded jewelry designer (meaning I've had to do whatever I had to do to make enough money to keep a roof over my head and food on the table–Life = Work). I wish sometimes I could shut the world out and just write, but when I have tried to do that, my words quickly dried up and became useless to me, refusing to behave themselves and make coherent sentences and paragraphs, much less a readable story. What I do find often is that I must shut off other avenues of creativity in order to accomplish any meaningful progress in the written word. This applies to the other avenues of creativity I pursue as well. I can't create art if I am engrossed in writing; I can't create beaded designs if I am engrossed in art. But I must remain engrossed in life at all times in order to survive and have the time, inspiration and resources to do any of my creative pursuits.
Do you think that as writers we are more observant than non-writers? Can there be a balance of living and writing? We have to have lived enough to be able to write things that people can relate to, right? This post was very thought provoking, which I love. Thank you.
I feel the same way, it seems that when I'm writing I can't do anything else and when I'm living I can't write. It's a strange circle… but at least for me it keeps changing so I don't get stuck in a rut.
This explains why my posts are so random?
😊
Very interesting post. My brother is a serious writer…he often writes while he is walking through a Northwest forest. One of my favorite authors…Marcus Aurelius…certainly lived and then wrote. I guess it depends on what you write about…and what one is trying to achieve out of writing. If one is writing to make a living…I imagine the pressure is great to write something that will appeal to large number of people…if one is writing about their own life and observations…not worrying about making a dime…in other words…an amature…one can live…but of course…the writing itself may lack professional grade quality and reach a very limited audience…but regardless…yes indeed…you do need Love…to fall in and out of Love…that is a must…in this one life-time :-)
I spent many years living instead of writing and now a couple years writing instead of living.
I prefer writing.
Being out in the world is so big, so bright, and so constantly shifting I can't keep up well. Writing gives me a filter for the world and a context in which to place it. I can take a step back from it, absorb it in my own time, and then find the next thing to astonish me. I think writing also gives me a greater appreciation for the life I do live. Truthfully, if I had to live without the opportunity to check out for awhile and write, I'd go nuts.
More nuts than I already am.
I just finished reading this bit from Brain Pickings:
"Why I (Joan Didion) Write"
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/10/16…
…I suppose for some, writing IS life. Life IS reflection.
Perhaps we find our lives in the process of writing…
I'm grateful to do both, and the older I get the easier it is.
Note to self: this is why one should occasionally take a break from blogging.
The most productive time in my life was the loneliest. For a long time I beat myself up for cutting back my writing, but actually I find that the more and better I live, the better my writing is, even though I manage to do it so much less.
I really appreciated this post, right at the end of a year when I have been offered more opportunities to write than ever but have found taking the time to really get involved in it difficult. It seems I have spent a lot of time neither living nor writing. 2013 must see a change – thanks for the inspiration!
I love this post. I think you are born a writer. I always knew I'd have nothing to write about until I'd lived a little. Now I'm 40 I can't stop writing.
I am a writer, but I find that I am only able to write if I have something to write about. My subject matter comes from living my life. For instance my ongoing frustration over a missing payment in the banking system is an incentive enough to write about the short comings of the said banking system.
If people shut themselves away in a room away from life then they lose a connection to the creativity and dynamic of life that is food and drink to their writing.
This is so very apropo; I have spent the last year NOT writing, forcing myself to live in the world and resolve some outstanding issues in my life. And if I could not resolve them at least find a balance point. Writing is a profession, an obsession (to some, anyway) and a preocupation; The act of writing must be a solitary affair, in that the composition itself must take place inside your head, and the typing (or scribbling) requires a deal of solitude to get it all down on paper. That's just the way it is. I cannot do two things at once; I am no multitasker, and trying to compose and then type things demands solitude to do it right. But Life does intrude, and then I drop out of the 'zone', find myself becoming frustrated by the interruptions and become somewhat fractious with everyone and everything around me. Writing for a living is hard enough without Life getting in my way.
So I took a year off, hoping to get enough settled down to where I can spend the next two years working on my next novel. I sympathize with all of the writers out there, whoever you are.
I agree that this is a paradox, but I think part of it lies in the points chalaedra touched on; how does one define "living?" For example, I never, ever watch any TV, but I don't think I'm really missing much and have no desire to spend even one bit of my life on TV. Yet the majority of people I know spend hours each week in front of the TV, and never question whether this is a vicarious form of living (as I think it is). I think many of us who become writers do experience a feeling of being different and apart long before we take up writing, and this is how we end up spending so many hours in solitude. I also think that it's important that we do not totally isolate ourselves, but remain involved in the lives of others. Otherwise we will lose the compassionate heart that is necessary to create characters that will reach people on an emotional level. Most writers I know get overstimulated and stressed if they spend too much time in noisy, crowded environments. Even those of us who are gregarious and love to be with people might find (as I did) that we are much healthier when we take the outside world in measured doses; otherwise, we burn ourselves out.
I thought I was the wierdo to not have tv. There's so little time in life and my 'fun' time is definately spent 'living' in a book. Or walking through the desert. I can navigate open areas by recognizing creosote bushes and thornbush mounds and know where a dozen unused birds nests are. Although I have many friends I love dearly, I also cherish the days when I don't see another human face to face.
I love this–it's a good reminder. However, I wonder–if you lose your "life" how do you maintain your writing? Wouldn't it fade away as your spirit dwindles, or as you lose the experiences that leave your soul through your pen?
Thanks for always having something thoughtful to say, and happy new year!
It depends on how much life experience you actually need in order to produce enough stories to last a lifetime, I guess.
:) So, it's about having that inherent imagination to write fiction or fantasy vs that depth of experience that hits the essence of human truth? Both different genres, so that makes sense.
Well said, this is something that I had tucked away in the recesses of mind & you put it to paper… I appreciate you!
Incredibly thought provoking post. Thank you. I was procrastinating and looking through wordpress. You see, I have a lot of writing to do. I think solitude, creative solitude is great. Living, if done correctly is even better. But you don't have to stop living when you write. You can be just as "un-alive", disconnected, alone in a disco, or even better, a movie theatre. I would define living as being happy, doing, seeking what it is that give you joy. And if you are alone on top of a mountain and are happy, then you are living.
There were times in my life when I took up writing as well… even attempting poetry. It wasn't so much the many books I've read which prompted me as it was a deep desire to say something about what was bothering me about the world and couldn't simply speak. The journey between my brain and tongue was thick with forgetfulness and, often, the message would get lost with diversion. In writing, however, it was concrete. The original message never got lost in the mess of forgetfulness, a listeners weary response and, ultimately, their bored body language.
Back in the 70's I had the wonderful experience of hearing a Metis storyteller spin a woodsy tale. A group of us, huddled in an island cabin on Yellowknife Bay in the North West Territories, silently listened as his tale of wilderness wisdom transported us as easily and completely as if we were actually in that scenario. I wish I had that ability to speak so well, but unfortunately it takes a lifetime to learn. As a side note, I've read that the Supreme Court of Canada actually values the oral tradition of its native peoples over the some of the written treaties. The book was titled 'A fair Country' by John Ralston Saul.
Fascinating stuff, really…
Getting back to topic of The Writer story above, I understand 'losing oneself' in the process of creative pursuits such as putting pen to paper or typing diligently on a keyboard. As a painter I am often lost in such a process, spending weeks and months completely lost to the world, not caring about friends or relatives and only grudgingly putting the paints aside at the end of a day.
Is it healthy? I don't know. Is it fruitful work? Seemingly not. But it does fill my life with the promise of perhaps, just maybe, doing something that will resonate with others and get a message, which can't otherwise be stated by myself, across.
Fine blog you have here, Christian. Thank you.
I appreciate the truth and honesty of this post. We all prefer to imagine that life, as intellectually stimulating, glamorous in its brilliancy but you flipped and showed the other side of the coin.
Not sure if I can accept that "creative" efforts requires anything more than a nine to five job as a bank clerk. I'm talking in terms of focusing on the task. Sure, I put myself into what I'm doing, but I'd do it the same as if I had to complete a financial report. Sometimes I think there is a tendency to make creativity more than what it is, to make it seem so "heavy", so much of a sacrifice. Is a "starving artitst" an absolute requirement for satisfaction? What about the writers and artists who frequented the clubs and cafe's of Paris? From what I gather they had a pretty good time. Maybe I've watched the movie "Henry and June" too many times. (Damn that Uma Thurman) Focus does not = ignoring life.
But then again, I am an unpublished (outside of my blog) writer. I know what I want to write about in 2013, and have a good sense of how to go about it, but I can't see donning monk's clothing and sitting in the tower amidst the parchments and candles, eating only when someone has slid the tray under the door. "I create, therefore I must suffer"… Nah, think not for me :-)
I know writers who would agree with your article 100%. But I am more like that first article you wrote (that you mentioned as a comment). The short story I wrote that has gotten the most positive responses, was about the death of my first daughter. I didn't write it to publish (but I had some who said I HAD to publish it), I wrote it because I had too. It tore me up just doing the rough draft, and I could only do one re-write. So, it is probably the worst piece (from a literary standpoint) of anything i have written. I still can not go back and work on it, but I still get mail from people saying how much it meant to them and helped them or someone they know. Most all of my writing is from life or history. I get inside the story and live it. I do relive it afterwards, particularly when writing. My view is that writing is different for every writer. Writing is as many different things as there are writers. One Hemmingway’s short I reread from time to time is his worst short … it reminds me that even the greats can get it wrong sometimes.
Strange, I feel like I'm alive when I'm writing and I'm getting a lot done. Can't explain it, it's just the way it is.
Writing is how I cope with living. First it was mostly poetry and stories that one would expect of a teenage angst ridden girl. Then it progressed into things that really frightened me like evil sociopaths and normal people that lose touch with reality and do horrible things. Those kinds of things have always been more frightening to me than any made up monster ever could be. Those people exist. They could be our neighbors, our mailmen, our doctors and no one would ever know… That is horrific to me.
I also have written a lot about how much I feel like an outlier in a society that values women based on superficial qualities I simply don't possess. Writing is my therapy, I guess. It's helped me through more than one bout of severe depression.
You point of view seems right, but it still has some after-taste of pretence (please dont get offended). I've re-checked what I remember of bios of Russian greatest writers and poets and their lives do not seem to be sacrificed to writing. Thought, of course they spent a lot of time observing.
Happy new year! and thank you for your posts, always thought-provoking )
You are a very wise guy at a very early age. Be happy, it is right that all we want to have what we dont have, but you are above many others. You know, I think God is an artist, that create, we are like Him in different ways. I create too, if you have curiosity to take a look at my blog and I am sad cose I dint do it early. You are very lucky cose all you do, you do it so early in your life. The love will come but for smart guys and woman is not such easy…. I like you, becouse you are not like others :) Greetings from Maramures
Reblogged this on Don Carnagey~Lanier and commented:
Great advice.
I kind of get your point. There are also times that when something special is happening before me, I tend to think about how will I write it. I get too busy thinking about how would I describe and relive it through my writing that I forget to fully enjoy and revel in the moment. Maybe it's best to live fully first because that way, we can create great stories to tell. :) Nice post by the way! :)
I sense that people who have to write will write, often forgoing food, sleep, comfort and personal hygiene, but the best writers are also often people who can tell a good story in the oral tradition. My good friend Cate (now a well published author) could craft a story or joke in any situation – and I was her willing audience from the age of 10. My daughter similarly pours out everything onto any paper lying about – poetry, lists, her 'streams of consciousness' – one day things may coalesce into something whole. These are not lonely people or loners by any means but there is an energy of creativity which – as you say Christian – is not gifted to mere mortals (like me). I think maybe like Masqua I am more an artist than a writer as I will definitely expend more energy than sense once started on some art work.
I prefer to live, so that I can write from my experiences, interaction and observations of others.
As a poet my written reflections exercise reaction to life's moments, milliseconds of circumstance that occur as natural course and my creative word an image or thought conveyance to that moment. Those reflections are highly personal perceptions of my own. I play to no-one's theatre, I bow in the absence of encore. I embrace each moment of life as it comes and disseminate something of its meaning. Your words here, Christian, are an incredibly transparent reflection of our life as writers. The lifeblood of our shadow is our earthly existence and the notions we scribe our recompense.
I do agree with you. I tend to observe and sometimes get involved in a certain situation. It sparks my imagination. And I tend to draw a lot and write some of the words. Only recently, surprisingly my mind is filtering words and playing words. :-D
Excellent thing to ponder on. To be a writer you have to observe and think and analyse, in order to play with the subject and thereby create; like with any kind of artist. I like being an observer though – I am less reactive that way and can step away from events and look from the outside instead. Then you can look inside if you find you are too engaged. For me it's an easier way to live and a little spiritual at the same time, being an observer.
When you live, you shine. When you write, you reflect the light to see what it's made of.
I agree to a point, since a great deal of dedication is needed to perfect the art. The same is true for musicians or athletes. However, writers also need to live in order to write, something not true with my other two examples. The more life experiences you have, the better a writer you will be, in my opinion.
I can't write and live, or live and write simultaneously either. So that's probably why I've barely written anything in the last six months! But when I do write, my entire existence feels alive, where as when I'm "living" and not writing, I'm almost constantly engulfed by a profound sense of sadness. Emptiness. My center is off. I feel as if I am on autopilot. So in a sense, I'm not really living at all if I'm not writing.
Maybe you can have both – just not at the same time. Go out and live – writing will always be there. This is probably easier for me to say because I am older – you are young. As schizobrilliant says – when you live you shine, when you write you reflect the light. Love that comment!
I have to say I agree with Massiel above. We have to have something to write about before we can write – - in some cases. When I've written fiction, I wrote about little daydreams from my mind, things that of course had never happened. When I wrote a novel, I pulled in pieces of life experiences to enhance each character. When I write non-fiction (essays, research, etc) I have to read and understand and see it in action before I can synthesize it.
However, as I am sitting here at the Charleston lake house (rented with friends), my son and husband are fishing and I am writing. So am I not living? Now I kind of feel guilty.
Or…maybe to a writer, writing IS feeling alive. It's when we are at peace, doing what we want to do. Who is to say that fishing is more "alive" than writing is?
Anyway, great post as usual. And I am sure you'll find the love you're looking for. :-)
I agree with Massiel and Eliz. As a creative nonfiction writer, I find the richest writing I bring forth happens upon reflection with a decent amount of time wedged between being fully present for the event and the moment of reflection. It is easy to underestimate the power of experience. If the human is willing to fully let go in the moment, the writer might be surprised at how much is recalled during reflection–how the tiniest details (a broken clasp on a watch band, the rust on a tire rim, the feel of a single wet blade of grass on bare feet) might come to mind months or even years after the event took place. The importance rests in the presence of the writer. Naturally, I'm guilty of whipping out a notebook to jot down something that catches my eye. But often I'll look back at the note and feel as though I'd missed something. "Why did I write it in the first place?" "Why did I take myself out of the experience?" Everyone has a different method. There is no doubt about that. But I truly believe that some of the best writing emerges from those who aren't afraid to completely immerse themselves.
If I were to go to a party, let's say, and a drunk girl began speaking to me at the bar–a girl who seemed to be experiencing bizarre emotional turbulence, who seemed to be an interesting character to write about, what would I do? I could immediately start jotting down her appearance and so forth, but I wouldn't truly be present. There would be an invisible wall between us. I might be able to notice that her neck twitched every time she mentioned her father or that her nails were all painted pink except for one painted turquoise. But while I was writing that down, she might have noticed a man walk into the bar, a man she is terrified of. But maybe she wouldn't want to make it known that she is aware of his presence. The transition would happen in an instant, less than a second. In turn, I would have missed her face at that moment. I would have missed the opportunity for a massive character development.
I'm not trying to invalidate your opinion. I'm only trying to say that there is great power in setting aside the notebook from time to time.
Yes – writing is part of "my living" as well.
Oh so painfully true! I have spent a lifetime juggling one foot in the imaginary life of my characters and the other in my own life. Where it becomes particularly challenging is when you paycheck is dependent on your writing. Yes, you want to go out and live your life, but your words are what are paying for it. So you sit in a room and miss out. And times when you do show up in the world you may show up in body, but your mind and spirit still remain chained to the imaginary. Perhaps that tension between your life and the life of your characters is what makes for great writing? I'm still trying to figure out the answer to that question.
Interesting idea, though while I'd agree you can only do one at a time, it doesn't mean you can't put aside your habit of observing for a few hours to be wild with friends.
And being detached can mean appreciating things more, paying more attention to the remains of old ruins, and imagining what it will have been like at it's peak.
Interesting argument though!
I see your point, and respect your opinion (as requested), and I even agree to a certain extent- because as a writer, you are constantly creating the words of the story in your head instead of being present… But I must say, I never feel more alive than when I am writing something I love, or rather, transcribing what is unfolding like a miracle in my head, fingers flying over the keyboard, trying to keep up, to leave nothing out. That is an experience unique to writers, and a feeling that propels me, makes me sure that this is my calling, for certain. You, of course, must live out in the world, too- otherwise, wouldn't your words be nothing but words on the page? You have to experience at least a bit of the emotions used to give your story meaning. For me, though, the days when I feel like I am not really living are the ones when I can't find any time at all to write.
That's it. I totally agree with you, as soon as I have anaged to write soemthing I ampleased witjh, my life is immeasurably better. I then strt to notice even more things to write about. It's not good inside my head. i much prefere to be out in the fresh air along with my words.
This is depressing to admit but there's a lot of truth to this. The past few years I've become a hermit, spending most my time alone and I finally wrote a book I'm really proud of, a book I'll soon be able to share with the world courtesy of a publisher who saw some merit in it.
Just the other day my sister said I've changed and become more disconnected or detached. But also I'm strangely happier and more at peace than I ever have been.
I don't know if I have it in me to keep writing novels — and at any rate it remains to be seen whether anyone will want to read them. If they don't, I guess I'm off the hook and I can go back to partying. Right? Or have I crossed a line somehow? I didn't really choose to be a writer or an artist and vedanta student. It chose me. Dharma I guess.
I think it is possible to do both – live and write. I find writing helps me to process and express what I experience, but often I need to give it time before I can write about it. Also, often I write about my inner life, my dreams and thoughts that aren't always based on an experience. But your post has made me think it is possible to live more than I am. I don't think I could give up writing completely, though.
This resonated deeply with me, thanks. I have often split things into 'the writing life' and 'the living life' which frequently cannot coexist. This is one of the most prevalent conflicts of a writer. Thanks for writing it down; now go and book a trip to Hawaii with your dream girl while drinking champagne and smoking a cigar.
You wrote this on the day that I actually tried to go out and do some living and failed miserably. Well I have some health issues holding me back. In my book the protagonist experiences far more than I ever could, and that's just not because it's science fiction. In a way they are like a more successful extension of myself. Many parts are influenced by real world events in my life but I really don't do much living. I'm an extreme introvert and observe far too much, analyse far too much and note down certain experiences, mentally, that I'd like to write about. But the world is overwhelming to me and I haven't got the communication skills to really enjoy people's company, and I don't like losing a structured environment so travel can be a difficult thing.
I've always been a non-social person, never actually desiring social contact. So writing is like spending my alone time doing something productive.
This was a great post and I think I'll follow you from now on. Thanks for liking my post too.
Very articulate response…I'll be over for a visit.
Thought provoking post. I disagreed at first, but then I really thought about it and had to change my mind. Now I'm fence sitting, unable to decide if I agree or not. I don't think I would say that it is not living, simply that it is a different way of living. Yes, writers may be less a part of the action for being caught up in our own heads, but writers also tend to see far more of what is actually going on in a situation (I think it has to do with building people in our heads from the ground up). Who lives more: the person perpetrating the action, or the person who understands more of what goes behind it? What exactly is living for that matter? Is it about doing things, leaving a mark, or is it about seeking understanding (or all three, or none of them)? Dude, you're going to have me philosophizing all day.
Thanks for another compelling post!
And you never stop writing no matter what comes to your mind. We do more editing than we do creating in our lives…