This ain't no kind of living for an honest working man

[rolanni]

Back when I was doing the working vacation thing at Archers Beach, I took a lot of walks.  I left footprints on every street in town during that month -- which was great.  I like to walk.

One evening, I was taking a shortish walk* and I met, as I so often did, a fellow traveler.  This one was different than most of the others I met, out walking.  Not only was she not accompanied by a faithful canine companion, but she didn't really seem to be enjoying herself.  In fact, she seemed Absolutely Miserable.

We passed each other as I was going out, smiled and nodded at each other, as one does, and continued on our separate routes.

We met again as I was on my way back, and this time, she spoke.

"You, too?" she asked.  "How much do you have to walk?"

I said I was walking between two and five miles a day, depending.

She was horrified.  "They're making you walk five miles?"

Well, no, I said, nobody was making me walk five miles.  I enjoy walking.

"I don't," she said sadly.  "And my doctor says I have to walk, every day, because I'm pre-diabetic and I need to walk miles.  How far is five miles?"

From where we stood to the Seacliff and back, I said -- that's about five miles -- but really, couldn't she just could check her pedometer and find out how far she'd walked?

She didn't have a pedometer; had never heard of such a thing.  She'd didn't know where the Seacliff was, either.

So, there she was, poor soul, plodding along, utterly miserable, equipped with neither a pedometer nor a sense of adventure, feeling ill-used and forced to perform this painful, pointless action.  It was very sad.

I explained about pedometers, told her that it was an instrument of hope, and said that walking would get easier, really, the more she did it.  I didn't say that she would come to enjoy it, though I hoped she would, if she kept at it.  It's really hard, though, to keep on doing something that makes you so completely unhappy.

. . .which brings me to writing.

No, really.

A little while back, I happened to observe a young writer (by which I mean someone who is just beginning their career), mock a piece of Sage Writing Advice.  In particular, they were taking issue with the notion that, should a project start dragging its feet, one might benefit from putting it aside, and doing something else.

If I stopped writing every time it got hard, sayeth young writer, I'd never get anything written.  People who just walk away from their projects aren't serious about being writers.  You have to just push through and write, no matter how hard it is, or how much you hate it.  Writing is hard, and anybody who expects otherwise is a poseur.

To which I say, um, No; not exactly.

First of all, the advice to put a balky project aside is based on the understanding that, often, a project stalls because you, the writer, made a misstep.  If you keep bulling through, no matter what, you may find, days later, that you need to strip out and rewrite six chapters in order to correct the error.  Or you may get to the end of the project, and realize that you need to deconstruct half the book.

Taking a day or two off to give the backbrain some time to figure out what the problem is, is cheap, compared to pushing through, no matter what.

This is not at all the same as "walking away every time the writing gets hard." It is instead an understanding of process, and a productivity tool.

Now, about that writing is hard business.

Yes.  Yes, writing is hard.

But it's not always hard.  It's often rather easy, and pleasurable, too.  In fact, I expect to enjoy myself when I'm working.  That's one of the things that makes writing desirable as a career -- for me, at least.  If I want to be
miserable in my work, I can go back to being a secretary.

See, unlike my unhappy strolling friend, no one is making anyone be a writer.  If you're miserable in the work; if you believe joy will come from eventual, future accolades and rewards -- I would strongly advise you to find other work.  Work that gives you joy in the doing.  Work that is worthy of both your care and your time.

In essence, if writing doesn't satisfy you on a level that nothing else can reach -- you're doing it wrong.

. . .I really hope that woman got a pedometer, and that she walked down to the Seacliff, to find out for herself how far it is from Wavelet Street.  I hope she discovered excitement and pleasure in walking.

Because life's too short, yanno?

---------------

*East Grand toward the Scarborough line, cut up the drive at Little Miss Cottages to Wavelet Street, follow Wavelet 'til it dead-ends at the Sunspray, turn left down the alley to East Grand again, left again and so to home


This post also appears here.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

True, this. All of it.

And I love the names of those streets.

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

All true, and well put. I sometimes fee that I have to wait for the thoughts to somehow ripen, before I write them. They are elusive, at first, just an image or feeling. If I am a little patient, and work on other things, they will become ready and useful.

[cailleuch.livejournal.com]

You advice works for most jobs or things. Find something that you like doing and do it. It doesn't have to be some Great Vocation(tm). If tinkering with the insides of a computer floats your boat or grooming dogs is your thing, then do it. But there must be some kind of joy in it.

I get asked all the time when I'm going to retire and I say I don't know. I'm a professor and like teaching, still, a zillion years later. I'll quit/retire when it isn't fun anymore.

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Maybe the lady should take the advice you give writers, and look for a form of exercise she would like better, maybe something indoors, with music and company of friends.

And yes, giving the backbrain time to work, can be like waiting for the well to refill. Or like planting some seeds, then giving them time to sprout.

[joycependle.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoy writing, because I sure like the result :))

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Hopefully, the faithful canine companion was able to eventually help her enjoy it!

Was Archer's Beach hurt by Sandy?

[redpimpernel.livejournal.com]

Of course I mean Old Orchard. Was the beach, the pier or the town damaged by Sandy?

I've been think much about this. During my October vacation in Boston we day-tripped up to Maine. Deciding not to stalk my favorite authors, we did a drive through of Old Orchard Beach instead. Wow, the pier and the carnival area was very much as I had pictured Archers beach. I took photos and they all turned out except the boarded-up carousel. Was it from looking into the sun or vibes from a certain constrained bat-winged horse inside? =)

That was 4 days before Sandy came ashore.

Re: Was Archer's Beach hurt by Sandy?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I thought Sandy was going to be the end of Camp Ellis, but! it, and Old Orchard, and all of the Maine coast, really, were very, very, very lucky. They had a lot of wind and the equivalent of a double-full-moon surge.

The power never even flickered.

Re: Was Archer's Beach hurt by Sandy?

[redpimpernel.livejournal.com]

So glad to hear that!
It's such a pretty, pretty beach.