One more great observation from Robin Abrahams from the Miss Conduct blog, this one about balancing writing with another job:
“…Don't let the day job get you down. Don't daydream of the time when you'll be able to do nothing but focus on your ‘real’ writing. Because your readers will still be working in those day jobs, and you'll relate to them better, and they to you, if you have experiences in common.
Take notes on corporate absurdity. Stop complaining about people yakking loudly into their cell phones and soak up the rhythm of their speech…”
She also emphasizes the need to keep feeding your mind. She advises:
“Learn about gardening, cognitive psychology, wolf behavior, Hinduism, pre-Columbian art, Kierkegaard, commedia dell'arte, cheesemaking.
If you expend a lot of energy, but don't get enough nutrition, eventually your body will burn through your fat reserves and start cannibalizing muscle. This is bad. If you keep writing, but don't feed your mind and heart with enough life experience and book learning, a similar process will happen. Don't let it. And for heaven's sake don't yearn for the day when that will happen, and think that it signifies your birth as a ‘real" writer.’”
I'll second that--the minute you write, you're real enough!
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