Posted by : Sherri Cornelius Thursday, March 5, 2009

H/T Nathan Bransford for this article: Writing for a living: a joy or a chore?

Here's the description I identify with the most:


Hari Kunzru


Hari Kunzru I get great pleasure from writing, but not always, or even usually. Writing a novel is largely an exercise in psychological discipline – trying to balance your project on your chin while negotiating a minefield of depression and freak-out. Beginning is daunting; being in the middle makes you feel like Sisyphus; ending sometimes comes with the disappointment that this finite collection of words is all that remains of your infinitely rich idea. Along the way, there are the pitfalls of self-disgust, boredom, disorientation and a lingering sense of inadequacy, occasionally alternating with episodes of hysterical self-congratulation as you fleetingly believe you've nailed that particular sentence and are surely destined to join the ranks of the immortals, only to be confronted the next morning with an appalling farrago of clichés that no sane human could read without vomiting. But when you're in the zone, spinning words like plates, there's a deep sense of satisfaction and, yes, enjoyment…

Now off to my torture chamber--ah, I mean, my office.

{ 5 comments... read them below or Comment }

  1. It must be really, really bad that I don't know any of those people, right? Not one?

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  2. Haha! It almost cracks me up that some people think writing for a living is going to be fun and games all the time! Well chosen words, hon! :)

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  3. "Now off to my torture chamber." I love it!! I also have a torture chair!

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