Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Why Write? (Thomas Wolfe Book Quote)

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Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :

Here is a quote from "Of Time and the River," by Thomas Wolfe, in which the main character, Eugene, is arguing with his friend Starwick about what Starwick calls Eugene's useless obsession and desire to see everything, do everything, and know everyone. In it, Starwick says:

"What does it matter? Why do you goad your spirit and exhaust your mind with these frantic efforts, these useless desires to add another book or play to the mountains of books and plays that have already been written? Why should we break our hearts to add to that immense accumulation of dull, fair, or trivial work that has already been done?" He was silent a moment longer, and then the colour in his ruddy face deepening with excitement, he said in a high, passionate tone: "What is great--what is priceless--what we would give our lives to do--is so impossible--so utterly, damnably impossible! And if we can never do the best--then why do anything?"

Agreements, disagreements, or other opinions?

Posted by Leigh (Member # 2901) on :

I don't find writing dull, trivial and other things. I find it fun, encompassing my feelings and emotions into words into something that I feel is grand.

But that is only a paragraph from a book, from one character to another. It could be simply a way to get to hate or dislike this Starwick.

But anyways, writing for me is fun. That's my opinion.

Posted by Final (Member # 3414) on :

I agree with you leigh,
When I was forced to write, well then I hated it. Writing on my own though, well i can't get enough of it. The idea of having complete creative control over it is what does it for me.

Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :

I've always been fond of this quote by Alan Cohen: "Before you die, you have to dare your genius to walk the wildest unknown way."

Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :

A lot of the book seems to be about the self-destruction of various friends of Eugene's, and how Eugene must choose not to follow their example.

Starwick does have a point about too much material being out there for any one person. Earlier in the book Eugene muses that most of the classics really are considered the best for good reason, and how rare it is to find something really classic reading on one's own, that is not already recognized as a classic. These are all things I've pondered. I don't say such concerns keep me from writing--especially contemplating the wild successes of things I consider way mediocre, something they haven't touched upon so far in this book--but it may hold me back a bit.

Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :

I write because I want to. I don't need any other reason.

Posted by wyrd1 (Member # 3366) on :

It's simple really, if I don't write I go nuts. My imagination interferes with reality and thought consumes my time. I have stood for minutes doing nothing but letting my mind go where it will, creating complex characters and devastating situations. After entering the workforce it became so bad I had to write a few pages down every 6 months or so. I write so that I have control plus I enjoy it.

Posted by Inkwell (Member # 1944) on :

I write because it's the only thing in my life that I have complete control over...I am the totalitarian ruler of my imagination, the He-Man of my own literary universe.

"I have the pow-uuuuuuuuur!"

My word is law! And if my characters don't like it, I afflict them with a nasty rash.

Nah, I'm just kiddin'. I write because I find it a meaningful, enjoyable process, and because I love seeing the faces of my few devoted readers light up when I tell them I've got something else ready for them. I write for myself and my audience, and find a measure of purpose.

Anyway...all that He-Man stuff was a lie. Mostly.

Inkwell
-----------------
"The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp."
-Anonymous

[This message has been edited by Inkwell (edited May 11, 2006).]

Posted by thexmedic (Member # 2844) on :

It's an interesting question. Every day I sit on the subway to work and read, and I'm surrounded by other readers, by people listening to music, to people playing video games and I think what is this? It's 30 minutes and we desperately grab at any form of amusement we can get. Why?

I think the question of why we write gets into the same issue of why we read, why we listen to music, watch TV, etc.

As far as I can tell there is desperate need within all people to experience emotion.

That's what all these forms of entertainment give us--emotions that we wouldn't normally feel. We can feel love, loss, elation, despair, all from the safety of our own home.

And that's why I write. It's a very personal thing. If I ever sell anything and other people enjoy it then that's great but for me it's very similar to reading--it's being able to sculpt an emotional experience that I want to experience.

Posted by ken_hawk (Member # 2647) on :

I write simply because i enjoy it. I may not have submitted a story to a publisher yet but i am working on it, and i may not write incredibly fast but i still just do it because it is what i love to do.

Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :

quote:
It's 30 minutes and we desperately grab at any form of amusement we can get.

I don't think it's entertainment as much as it is a desire to be productive. I can entertain myself with my thoughts, but I like to be DOING something with time that would be otherwise wasted. Commuting time is perfect for thinking up permutations to plots.

Posted by RCSHIELDS (Member # 3362) on :

It's nice to know there are others feeling the need to write just because they can. If imagination is potential, then a completed story is potential realized, giving one a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. We belong to a very select group, what Samuel Clemens characterized as 'fellow scribblers', each of us with our own interests and tastes. It is exciting to think that there are so many stories available that it is impossible to read them all. Most of us specialize in favorite subjects and genres due to the plethora of available writings on any one subject or genre, even so there is too much to read everything. None of us should ever be bored.

Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :

quote:
It is exciting to think that there are so many stories available that it is impossible to read them all. Most of us specialize in favorite subjects and genres due to the plethora of available writings on any one subject or genre, even so there is too much to read everything. None of us should ever be bored.

Does this excite you? Because it bummed the heck out of Thomas Wolfe. Here is another passage from "Of Time and the River," in which Eugene's friend Starwick describes part of his problem: "You no longer enjoy what you read, because you are tortured by a consciousness of the vast number of books you have not read; you go to the museums--to the Louvre--and you no longer enjoy the pictures, because you torture your brain and exhaust your energy in a foolish effort to see and remember all of them. You no longer enjoy the crowd, you go out on the streets of Paris, you sit here in this crowded café--and instead of taking pleasure in all this gaiety and life about you, you are tortured by the thought that you know none of these people, that you know nothing about their lives, that there are four million people here in Paris and you do not know a dozen of them. . . . Eugene, Eugene," he said sadly, "this thing in you is growing worse all the time; if you do not master it, it is a disease that will some day drive you mad and destroy you."

And this guy was trying to read and understand foreign languages!--something I do not demand of myself, when understanding one's own language and countrymen is quite enough if not more. If you took the above and added, "No matter how hard you work or how much you do, you feel you should be doing something else, then when you do what you felt you should have been doing, you feel you should be doing more and better," you would have a summary of a good deal of my state of being for most of my life.