In spite of my avowed two-week vacation, I slid back into writing yesterday. I was indulging myself, since I was feeling pretty low; it seemed to be the only thing I wanted to do.
Five hours later, much restored, I found that I had a draft of a little essay about the day I met Benazir Bhutto in a drugstore in a Raleigh shopping center. Working on that story, I had no sense that time had passed. I was feeling like my regular self again.
A person can't write ALL the time, though. I'd like to think it was possible to pause.
I once knew a very successful writer who didn't pause. Just before she finished one book, she started the next, then finished the first one, then went back to the second. That way she always had a story in progress, a cat purring in her lap.
I don't think that's entirely healthy. But I understand the impulse. And she did get a lot done.
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6 comments:
Peggy, I think that it is good that you allowed yourself to indulge in some writing. I agree that it wouldn't be entirely healthy to write ALL the time because there does have to be some balance in life. It seems to me that the successful writer you knew, who wrote all the time, was trying to hide from something else. Maybe her fantasy life was a safer place to live, then her real life was.
All of that being said, I don't think that it is a good idea to totally deprive yourself of something that you truly love to do.(as long as it isn't illegal, immoral, or dangerous!)
I am glad to hear that you are feeling restored! Enjoy the rest of your vacation. Read a little, write a little, nap a bit, spend time with your husband and friends, and do the things that make you feel good. I get the feeling that you were almost "challenging" yourself not to write, and when we put ourselves to that kind of test, then we are destined to fail.
Have a great day!
Good thoughts. Thanks.
And the little essay I wrote yesterday got tremendously positive reviews today in my brutally honest writing group.
A further perkup.
Good thoughts. Thanks.
And the little essay I wrote yesterday got tremendously positive reviews today in my brutally honest writing group.
A further perkup.
You need to give yourself credit for what you have already done. Your book on India was very healing for me and my husband after a very awful trip to India in 2005. I have been reading your blog since that trip and it has been part of my growth.
That is such wonderful news, Peggy! Just the kind of feedback that was needed in order to "feed the right dog"! Continue to treat yourself with kindness!
Thanks you, Anonymous and Debra.
I'm so glad that Sister India (and this blog) have been helpful to you, Anon.
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