Showing Up
Studio and Finbar So writing doesn’t just “happen. As with any prolonged effort, strength and stamina must be nurtured. The strength is of the "have faith in yourself" kind and the stamina is the "yes, you do have to go over this manuscript for the twentieth time and (fill in the blank) to make the story work." Writing a short story is a 5 Kilometer race. Writing a novel is one of those crazy ass cross-country marathons people do wearing tutus and shoes made of tire rubber. Even knowing these things there was a part of me that still thought that, now my life was calming down and my energy coming back, I could pop out to my studio and get to work just like that. So, like the New Year’s Resolution jogger, I set out, puffing resolutely. (You know what happened to that jogger? No, because you never saw them again.) The first few minutes went all right as I busied myself with housekeeping tasks: hanging up my coat, tak...