Of course, every author responded to the question differently.
There was no one method to tapping into the artistic spark within until it somehow yielded a book.
Such hurdles can feel insurmountable, but every artist you admire has overcome them, and so can you.
White once told theParis Review.
(Or in front of the easel, at the barre, and so on.)
As White continued in the interview, Delay is natural to the writer.
He is like a surferhe bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in.
If you show up, youll eventually catch that wave, though it may take some false starts.
This is where regularly setting aside blocks of time to work comes in.
Unless you make your living off of your art (which: lucky you!
), creative work is infinitely postpone-able.
Combat this by blocking off dedicated time in your calendar to work.
For that hour or two youve scheduled, put your ass in the chair and dont allow interruptions.
(This may require use of an app likeFreedomto keep yourself off the internet.)
Next time, or the time after that, though, you may find you have something to say.
Youll never find out if you dont show up in the first place.
That said, I know people who swear by it.)
Cameron calls these festive, solo expeditions.
That these dates be both fun and solitary is significant.
I used to think of myself as lazy.
I dont think it was laziness, though.
It was something closer to fear.
I feared pouring herculean effort into a project and seeing it come to nothing.
Which means, we kind of have to learn how to become best friends.
Why are you yelling at me?
Which is the risk all artists take and have to decide theyre willing to live with.
Those factors matter far less than the consistency of meetings, which give us deadlines to producesomethingto share.
Or, if you’re free to afford it, take a class.
Some of my creative writing students, once the term ended, have continued meeting regularly with each other.
Finding a circle of like-minded and supportive people tempers that struggle and makes it easier to keep going.
