tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post8130005823772355572..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Count me among the Blockheads: N M BrowneKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35069110390683521012015-04-30T13:28:26.968+01:002015-04-30T13:28:26.968+01:00Maybe our definition of love differs? I don't ...Maybe our definition of love differs? I don't see it as uncomplicated or necessarily always a source of pleasure. Maybe some writers are just scratching an itch and they could just as easily be hand washing twenty times a day, but I doubt it. However I'll bear it in mind in case I do meet any.Nickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15442269757463713048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-45677816187904466862015-04-30T10:26:32.461+01:002015-04-30T10:26:32.461+01:00Catherine, yes to obsession! I doubt that obsessiv...Catherine, yes to obsession! I doubt that obsessive people necessarily love what they're doing. Certainly I don't -- or only so rarely that it hardly counts.<br /><br />(Nicky, I'm not talking about publishing. Since I'm one of those people who give their stuff away for free, and plan always to do so, even self-publishing is useful but not of major concern to me. Of course, I'm only speaking for myself.)<br /><br />30 April 2015 at 10:23 DeleteLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-62352200751181593412015-04-30T10:23:40.294+01:002015-04-30T10:23:40.294+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38349884402769328802015-04-30T10:15:04.418+01:002015-04-30T10:15:04.418+01:00I'm still not convinced that we need to love a...I'm still not convinced that we need to love an endeavour to bother doing it. There are probably as many reasons for writing as there are writers -- well, maybe I'm exaggerating a <i>tad</i> -- but the desire/need to create seems to be just as crucial, and possibly even innate in human nature. And this need is not identical to love.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35564443742649253132015-04-30T03:35:49.221+01:002015-04-30T03:35:49.221+01:00Call me a blockhead too. Once I was complaining to...Call me a blockhead too. Once I was complaining to a non-writer friend about being stuck. She said: "You sound very frustrated. Have you thought of taking up something that's fun for you. Why do what makes you miserable?" <br />I answered: "You busted me. I hate it, but I really do love it!" <br />It all reminds me of the old joke about the nebbish at the tail end of a circus parade sweeping up the animal droppings.<br />Somebody shouts: "What a stinky job. You should find some other line of work."<br />The sweeper looks up and says: "What? And give up show business?!!!Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-60467913660156825652015-04-29T23:30:21.146+01:002015-04-29T23:30:21.146+01:00Oh to be good/successful/ published etc you have ...<br />Oh to be good/successful/ published etc you have to have more than love there's no doubt, but if love isn't your starting point I'm not sure why anyone would bother. Nickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15442269757463713048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35698908016962875952015-04-29T21:26:17.789+01:002015-04-29T21:26:17.789+01:00I think write for love, publish for money may be a...I think write for love, publish for money may be a better dictum than Dr Johnson's. But even though I do love what I do, I still find myself agreeing with Lee here. I suppose it depends on what love really means. The people I know who have made it as professional actors had love, but they had so much more. They had a dogged determination, a single mindedness that verged on obsession. Similarly, artist friends often don't seem to love what they do so much as to be completely driven to work on something to the exclusion of everything and everybody else. It doesn't always make them very happy, but then I don't suppose love does either! Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-13478036402863348872015-04-29T13:19:09.617+01:002015-04-29T13:19:09.617+01:00The love and the duff stuff go together, sometimes...The love and the duff stuff go together, sometimes the admin and the promo activity we have to do these days gets in the way of the enjoyment though! I'm sure your students enjoy your sessions and I'm pleased to hear your office is a disorganised place, lecturers have become too businesslike these days - I remember some who were not only eccentric but drunk at times, ah the fun. Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-39339613757884742882015-04-29T12:22:37.399+01:002015-04-29T12:22:37.399+01:00Getting through the dry, dead, difficult bits. Oh ...Getting through the dry, dead, difficult bits. Oh yes. I made myself a mantra to try and cope with that.<br /><br />Gold is found in stony ground.<br /><br />I reckon that if the writing comes too easily, you're not digging deep enough. Sometimes.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-74100230332792275742015-04-29T10:22:13.025+01:002015-04-29T10:22:13.025+01:00I agree with a lot you say, Lee - specially about ...I agree with a lot you say, Lee - specially about stubborness and showing them. But I think you have to love it too. You have to love inventing stories, figuring out characters, finding the right word - and, as Jo says, the sheer exhilaration when the words seem to be finding themselves and everything works. There's so much failure involved in 'the writing life' that only loving it more than anything else could carry you through. Same with an acting or music 'career' I suppose.<br />And I bet Dr Johnson loved it too.<br /><br />Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-50098986020878150322015-04-29T10:11:44.216+01:002015-04-29T10:11:44.216+01:00Actually writing is only about loving it. I'm ...Actually writing is only about loving it. I'm not talking about publishing - many of my students will never publish anything. It is a creative endeavour like many others but if at root you don't love doing it - why would you bother? There is nothing intrinsically virtuous or necessary about writing.Nickyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15442269757463713048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67293001231865123242015-04-29T09:58:24.340+01:002015-04-29T09:58:24.340+01:00It's a lot more complicated than merely loving...It's a lot more complicated than merely loving an activity -- whatever that may mean (and yes, we do have to think about what that actually means). I love playing chess but have never become good enough to enter a tournament, far less win one. I love cooking but will never be an Ottolenghi. Love may be part of the initial impulse, maybe even part of the ongoing process, but lots of other stuff keeps you going: habit (don't ever knock habit), stubbornness (damn right I'm going to show them), and probably much more.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-59276542676927811802015-04-29T09:46:21.669+01:002015-04-29T09:46:21.669+01:00always have your name on the cover of your book?always have your name on the cover of your book?Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-32417524301301781292015-04-29T09:19:06.931+01:002015-04-29T09:19:06.931+01:00How can anyone write if they don't love it? Wh...How can anyone write if they don't love it? Why put yourself through all the angst if not for those wonderful moments when everything - like magic - makes sense?JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.com