Nope. Not once, not ever, have I doubted or regretted my decision to become a writer.
And that's from someone who makes Hamlet look impulsive, someone who could second-guess for her planet; someone who could squarely be called the Anti-Piaf (theme song goes like this: "Ouiiiii, le tout de le touuuuut! Ouiiiii, je regret-uh le touuuuut . . .)
I have trouble making decisions.
But since I resigned from my job, sharpened my pencil, and wrote "book 1, chapter 1, page 1" in January 2001, I've never wanted to do anything else.
In all my wildest daydreams, I'm still a writer - in a tropical paradise, or with a castle that a long-lost relative bequeathed to me, or of an Oscar-winning movie script that I got to co-adapt, along with Emma Thompson, from my own novel - but always a writer.
Every other decision is hard to make and harder to stick with. I find it impossible to decide where to eat out, which film to see or what holiday cottage or hotel room to book.
The household of which I'm a member has put in place some rules for deciding.
1. How two people decide where to eat.
Person A* suggests five places.
Person B narrows it down to three.
Person A says the name of one out of the three.
Persons A and B eat there.
*A and B are alternating roles.
(Or they live in a Scottish town where "five places to eat" is just crazy talk)
2. How two people decide what film to see.
Persons A and B meet for coffee in walking distance of all three cinemas in town.
When the coffee is drunk, Person A or B looks to see which film at least one of them wants to see starts next.
Persons A and B go to see that film. And if they've just missed one, they meet a wee bit earlier the next day.
(Or they live in a Scottish town where "three cinemas in walking distance" . . .)
3. How two people choose a holiday cottage/hotel.
Person A picks three desirable features. e.g. quiet, walk to beach, warm sea.
Person B picks three desirable features. e.g. pretty, good seafood, within budget.
Person A looks on internet until a cottage/hotel with all six features is located.
Person A books that cottage/hotel.
Person A* stops looking on internet.
*Person A is me.
5 comments:
LOL. Is it another writerly characteristic to have trouble making decisions?
I think it is. I can't imagine that someone decisive would have the ability to sit and ponder all the possible outcomes of a plot. They'd think "Oh for God's sake, I've got better things to do" and just have everything blow up.
That's a really good point.
There are days and then there are days. Sometimes I can't pick which kind of bread and other days I buy a car in 20 minutes.
Sounds much better than our system, where person A asks "what would you like to eat" and person B asks "what are you cooking."
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