Sometimes I want to write
Stilgherrian’s post got me started and I also confess to a hankering to fiddle with bits of gear every now and then. For instance today’s edict from Jobs regarding the new wank phone has me calculating budgets between now and July 11 to see if I can possibly justify such an indulgence. The rumor that Vodaphone are also thinking about offering the iPhone mk2 on prepaid might just make the difference. But back to the writing thingy…
The point of Stilgherrian’s post is that the creative process is seemingly mired in rather simple habits. Most writers I have read about seem to be chained to their desks during the process of writing a book, at least in some way or another. What about the impact of blogging on the potential to create the next Catcher in the Rye? Writing anything is easy, my 9 year old daughter can manage to string a few words together and make it look like a children’s book and judging by some of the blogging around, there are certainly those who seem to think a few sentences strung together with a handful of hyperlinks to other equally eridute web creations constitutes a work of art comparable with Wuthering Heights however I think there are a few who might disagree. I think it is fair to say that writing well is an art which is why we have traditionally rewarded authors who can do it well with rewards similar to other artists. Sadly for the blogging set, ten minutes on the laptop (or the new iPhone) while swanning around at the local barista is not really the same as slaving away for months and years to produce a manuscript that eventually makes it way onto the best sellers list.
Maybe that’s why writers lead such ordinary lives, anything else just gets in the way.