The joys of the writter's life - by Harini Nagendra

Share a "hot take" about the book world? An opinion of yours that might be unpopular but is a hill you're willing to die on (at least for now).

Ok, here's mine - writing is not soul-suckingly awful, and the writer's lot is not a pitiable one. That is, writing is stressful in many ways, but it's far from the worst job out there - not in comparison with so many of the other, really challenging, unrewarding, thankless professions and jobs environments that helpless people are forced into, for all kinds of reasons.  

Writers choose to write because words dance in their head, stories fill their waking dreams, the books carve a path in their brain. It's certainly not easy to form sentences on paper, and shape them into a story. No creative process is easy. Writers spend hours staring at blank pages or blank screens, typing and erasing a sentence over and over, mired in writer's block, losing self confidence, battling impostor syndrome. All of this is true. 

But no one holds a gun to our head. If we write, it is because we choose to. There is joy in the creative process, fulfilment of a kind that is indescribable - but one that most people have experienced in some form or other. If you cook, bake, garden, embroider, knit, sew, paint, cut hair, make jewelry, do carpentry, build homes, apply makeup, design costumes, sets and landscapes, or do anything in the course of your daily life which involves creating something new - you know how good it feels to know that you created which bears your unique stamp - with all its imperfections, there's now something that exists in the world which would never have existed, in the exact same  manner, if it were created by anyone else but you. (Creative work heals wounds, and fills holes deep inside in a way that is frankly quite incredible, and there are reams of neuroscience research papers that document this.) 

Many (most) writers get paid a pittance for their efforts, as is the case with many artists and other folks in the creative profession. Yes, AI is coming for most of these jobs and may result in further exploitation. All of this is true, and sad, and angry-making, and terrible. Writing is also hard, stressful, and anxiety producing.   

But when I see some fora dominated by talk of how difficult it is to be a writer, with little discussion of the upside - saying only that the writer's life is a curse, agony, torment without end - it's hard not to point out that no one dragged us into this business, and no one keeps us here against our will. 

Indeed the luckiest part about being a writer is that you get to be your own boss: even if writing is only one of the many jobs you hold down, at least for a brief time and space, you get to be your own boss.

Nothing can quite replace the headiness of that experience. 

We're all very fortunate to be able to write, and to know that the universe has made some space for us to experience the magic of storytelling. That's my hot take, and I stand by it!