It’s hard to be a writer.
I’m not referring to the actual writing, although that’s plenty hard, but to the writer’s state of being, his or her way of living in the world.
Writers (and artists in general)
have it harder than many people. There are certain demands placed on their time, burdens that simply don’t exist for non-writers.
Now, I certainly don’t mean to imply that if you don’t write, you live a carefree life; we all have our crosses to bear. Rather that writers have a particular kind of weight we carry with us, the feeling of which is wholly distinct from other
forms of poundage.
That’s what I told a writer’s block counseling client who during a recent session lamented the pressures of his writing
life.
We’re all chronically busy, I explained, but writers have the added challenge of finding time to write on top of everything else we have to do. And writing is not like, say, going to the dentist. (At least I hope it’s not—eek!) It’s not a chore you carry out and then you’re done with it. It’s an incredibly time-consuming, ongoing activity that demands
consistent attention, often over the course of a lifetime.
We all have urges—some we act upon, others we thankfully suppress—but writers have the urge to create, to make something from nothing, and we feel satisfied only when we’ve done it . . . until the next urge inevitably comes along.
We all feel deeply. For better or worse, this is the nature of being human. But writers are more sensitive than the average Joe. We have to be. It’s our job, after all, to report on the human condition. How can we be expected to do that if we don’t feel acutely what it is to be alive?
What it means to be a
writer is controversial and varied. We can all agree, though, that it’s a difficult thing to be. But isn’t that what makes it worth it?
You’re a writer because you can be, because the burden of the activity, occupation, art, calling—however you want to look at it—isn’t too much for you to bear. It adds heft to your life, sure, but I can’t think of a worthwhile endeavor that
doesn’t.
Long story short, it’s hard to be a writer, but it’s not too hard. Remember that the next time this whole being-a-writer thing starts to get you down.
Like I told my client, you can carry a lot. You’re strong. You’re a
writer.
