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Writing Anyway

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What’s your excuse not to write?

Usually, my excuse is that I’m busy. I have three daughters! I have a mother who needs me, friends who depend on me, a husband who likes to have his share of attention! Shopping to do!

With my ankle broken, all of these excuses have fallen away. Yes, I can still stumble up and down the steps to do laundry. I have one extra kid of late (Annie is home for spring break). I have managed to drive the car (it’s the left ankle) and I even made it to see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug at our local discount theatre. But for the most part, for most hours of the day, I’m sitting in this chair or surrounded by books and notebooks on my bed (or napping; I seem to need about twice as much sleep as usual). My excuses are greatly, GREATLY reduced. Most of the time I’m sitting in this chair with my leg propped up, or it’s propped up in my bed, where I’m surrounded by books and notebooks. So, do I write?

What I’ve discovered is that I still have excuses, and that they are specially tailored for this situation. I’m exhausted (what’s with all the napping?) My leg hurts. My 20-year-olds keep invading my space and turning on the television. (Not to mention the novels I read instead of writing…)

Here’s the thing. We all have excuses. All of the time. If we’re lucky, we also have moments of consciousness in which we can make a conscious choice to face our excuses, to let our dreams (mine=writing) be greater than our excuses.

If Bilbo Baggins can face down a dragon, surely you can face down your excuses.

Try to flip it around. Use any excuse TO WRITE.

The Percheron in the Tunnel

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“I want to enlarge my knowledge of the world because the world is such a staggering and uncanny and heartbreaking place.” -Jim Shepherd

Yesterday I came across a video lecture by writer Jim Shepherd that profoundly moved me. I dreamed about it — that Percheron in the coal mine. You can read it here; at the bottom of the article (from the Williams College site) you’ll find a link to the video.

 

Oh, Brother

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Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that. -Ally Condie, Matched

I found this quote this morning and tucked it into my Christmas letter. Obviously, I was thinking of my kids, but then I remembered the wonderful weekend at Leavenworth in September with my husband’s family. The featured photo is of my dad with his older brothers, circa 1938, but ain’t none of us getting any younger.

So, in the midst of all the holiday bustle, that’s what I want to write about today.

Listening to Hemingway

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I have been thinking about Ernest Hemingway, largely because of the hilarious scene in The Silver Linings Playbook, which I watched with my girls the other night. This is Pearlie’s favorite movie (currently) so I’ve watched it a few times, once while I was teaching Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms last spring.

Then I came across this quote on Jon Winokaur’s Advice to Writers blog.

When People Talk Listen Completely

When people talk listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice. When you’re in town stand outside the theatre and see how the people differ in the way they get out of taxis or motor cars. There are a thousand ways to practice. And always think of other people.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

This is true not just for writers, by the way. Pay attention. Listen.

It’s also much harder to do than one might think. I’m pretty sure that was as true for Hemingway as it is for the rest of us.

Matthew Quick’s novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, is nothing like the movie, in my humble opinion, but well worth reading on its own merits.