Not so long ago, one of the people I worked with was fond of the mantra, “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.”
Uh yeah, sort of worth a small chuckle at the time. But we knew the truth. I wonder if things have improved. If not, such a waste of a beautiful life. A life too short.
Now, I deeply believe I won a lottery far more valuable than money. With total enthusiasm I can always report… daily, ” I love my lake, I love my lake, I love my lake.” So extraordinarily fortunate to live here. Even the non exceptional sunset today, is always worth experiencing.
As I putter along with my book, I talked to a writer recently that claimed she wrote 27,000 words over a weekend. I thought, wow, that is certainly putting the “pulp” before the fiction. Immediately after, I read this timely piece of advice:
“Kerouac wrote On The Road in three weeks. But just because he did, it doesn’t mean you have to.
Joseph Heller took eight years to produce Catch 22. Eight years.
Work at a pace that works for you. If that’s an hour a week or 40 hours a week, it’s entirely up to you. You don’t have to descend into drug and alcohol-fuelled writing frenzies because ‘the greats’ did. Write however works best for you.”
Yep, Joseph Heller is my new idol. Eight years to write! And I read it in one day… when I was twelve. I wonder how many people will read my first book in a day? Hopefully quite a few. Just so it doesn’t take eight years to write.