Comments on: Guest Post: Writing and Mortality

By: John Brown

John Brown — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:29:27 +0000

Amen. Lovely, Rachel.

By: Anonimus

Anonimus — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 11:18:29 +0000

I felt like you were saying that you didn’t believe that the cumpulsion to write existed, and while that cumpulsion doesn’t mean that your product is worth reading and it’s not the only way to write, it most certainly does exist as a necesity to write for the sake of writting. I know this because I feel that compultion. I apreciate the point you were trying to get acrossed but also wish you hadn’t been so derogitory towards the idea that the cumpulsion was there causing people to have to write.

By: Rachel Swirsky

Rachel Swirsky — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 03:44:21 +0000

John–I respect your compulsion; I just want people to respect that writing isn’t only valuable if it has that. You know? It sounds like we’re probably on the same page.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments!

By: Larry Moran

Larry Moran — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:37:44 +0000

I appreciate you writing this post. Thank you for taking a terrible myth and exposing it for what it really is…crap. Great post!

By: [links] Link salad almost wakes up in Kennewick, man | jlake.com

[links] Link salad almost wakes up in Kennewick, man | jlake.com — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:15:16 +0000

[...] Writing and Mortality — Rachel Swirsky on a topic a bit close to home for me, also the myth of compulsion. [...]

By: John Walters

John Walters — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 09:27:14 +0000

I understand your point, Rachel, and it is well taken. I have a large family too and would want to spend time with them near the end. However, I think it depends on the degree of compulsion involved. Though I don’t hold to any myths that a writer has to do this or that or not be called a writer, still I know that for myself personally there are stories I have not gotten to yet that must be written, and if I were told that my time was almost up I would try to get those stories done – as well as spend time with my loved ones. I write to entertain, yes, but I also write because I feel I have something to say that people need to hear, and if some of that is still unsaid I would work like hell to finish off at least the most important. It’s not that I would write just to be writing; it’s that I would write to finish the work. Martin Luther is reputed to have said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” Writing is my apple tree, I guess.

By: Nancy Fulda

Nancy Fulda — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:55:06 +0000

Oh, well spoken!

I’ve never liked the assertion that an artist must relegate all human relationships to the back seat in order to create a masterpiece. The most successful writers I know are in happy, stable relationships, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

By: Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 04:10:51 +0000

Rachel, your post is a great relief, helping to knock down one of the countless myths of what “real writers” do and how they behave. Unfortunately, real writers too often are the ones who believe the myths most. “I’m not a real writer if . . . ” I’m not an addict, I didn’t have an unhappy childhood, etc., and of course your point, “I’m not a real writer if I don’t want to die with my fingers on the keyboard.” Our lives inform every sentence we write, so we can at least say that by “just” living we’re already writing.

Perhaps continuing to write after we’ve just been given six weeks–that, more likely, is the wrong project–one meant to build a wall of denial, or maybe literary immortality, around us.

By: Tweets that mention Guest Post: Writing and Mortality -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Guest Post: Writing and Mortality -- Topsy.com — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:58:16 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SF&FWritersOfAm. and Shannon Prickett, Rachel Swirsky. Rachel Swirsky said: RT @sfwa Blog: Guest Post: Writing and Mortality http://www.sfwa.org/2011/02/guest-post-writing-and-mortality/ (it's by me!) [...]