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Author Topic: Non-Writing Hobbies Okay for Writers?
CoriSCapnSkip
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At the end of "In Search of Lost Time," Proust wrote of how the happy years are the wasted ones and the years you suffer are the most meaningful.

I haven't read the book, so this may be taken out of context, but gotta agree with Proust here. Up until age 10, I only did creative things because I wanted to, and that they meant something to me, not with any commercial considerations. At age 10, I decided to be a writer professionally.

Then followed 35 rather painful years of beating my head against the wall. First, I had to come up with an idea so original that no one else who had ever lived, present or past, had thought of it (this becomes harder every year due to the larger number of people who have lived and ideas which have been recorded--think about it.)

Next, I had to express it so brilliantly that it would be worth the time of a significant number of people to read my literary offerings rather than something by Shakespeare, Mark Twain, or anyone else who ever wrote anything.

Third, I had to market it well enough to make a bujillion bucks. I also had to avoid anything that would be too much of a distraction from writing. This naturally meant never having a full-time job, and being broke most of my life.

As far as I got was to finish one full-length work and a few shorter ones, all of which had to be published either by myself or by small non-profit presses. My novel was a resounding failure, trounced as being too factual for fiction, too fictional for non-fiction, too juvenile for adult readers, too adult for juvenile readers, and bottom line was most readers are uncomfortable with the subject matter. I couldn't think of anything "better" to write as I found the material very interesting.

Lately I've turned to other creative pursuits. The less commercial, the better. I'm fairly certain they would be classified in the area of "hobbies" and no serious critic would consider them "art." Whatever it would take to elevate them to "art," I am not interested in learning, as I am happy with them as they are. As far as commercial considerations, I am extremely unlikely to ever sell any, not so much because people wouldn't buy them as because I wouldn't sell them, and to some extent they're costing me time and money as I have to create spaces in which to build them.

When I'm "wasting" time either working on these, or just driving or walking around, very likely shopping or just thinking about various creative pursuits, I am almost as happy as before I started beating my head against the wall at age 10.

Am I betraying the standard set by my idol, Ray Bradbury? It's been pretty well demonstrated that my mind simply does not work like his and cannot by any means I have discovered be induced to do so. He comes up with ideas for short stories, or novels that can be written in segments. Although my novels can certainly be broken down into scenes, I don't see taking scenes out of context as segments working very well, and I've never been much at short stories, much as I'd like to. After 35 or more years of reading collections and anthologies, and watching classic anthology series, it should be demonstrable by now that I could stare at a broken roller coaster all day and not raise one single sea monster from the depths.

Is this all just a massive cop-out to try to escape the pain of 35 years of wall head-hitting, or is it really good to do something while you're alive that makes you happy? I just can't seem to give up the hobbies until I bring to reality the images in my head, although they may have "no commercial value."

Here is another good quote: "Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted." -- John Lennon

[This message has been edited by CoriSCapnSkip (edited February 25, 2007).]


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Avatar300
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Life is meaningless, so as long as you're here you might as well spend your time doing things you enjoy. And I think that very few people can be happy "wasting" their time away. On the other hand, we all set the course for our own lives, so you get to decide what counts as waste and what is productive.

It's also important to remember that no life is normal, because we all live it differently. So I would need to believe that you are not wasting your time when you say:

quote:
When I'm "wasting" time either working on these, or just driving or walking around, very likely shopping or just thinking about various creative pursuits, I am almost as happy as before I started beating my head against the wall at age 10.

because it makes you happy, and happiness is perhaps the most elusive commodity in existence.


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RMatthewWare
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Beg to differ, life is not meaningless. And no, I'm not going to espouse religion or religous living in this post. Life has meaning. Your life matters, to you if no one else. If that wasn't true, why would you keep living?

We are allotted a limited amount of years on this planet and we have (relative) freedom to do as we choose with them. If writing makes you happy, do it! If non-writing ventures make you happy, do them! In fact, the non-writing hobbies might add to your writing.

On the other hand, if killing makes you happy, you should probably hold off on that. But a story about a person who kills just for the shear fun of it could be interesting....

Matt

[This message has been edited by RMatthewWare (edited February 26, 2007).]


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franc li
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Why do young people never catch on that all of them are trying to be absolutely original?

Though if my math serves me, CSCS is older than me.

And if I misread irony in that part of the post, I shall gratefully accept the dunce cap.


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RMatthewWare
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I'm 25, not trying to come up with the next big thing, just trying not to plagiarize.

Matt


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CoriSCapnSkip
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Yes, the hobbies do help me relax and get my brain creative for possible writing, much more than the head-wall-banging. As far as the hobbies, though some people may take the collecting further, the only people I've seen go as far with building environments for their collections are model train enthusiasts, some of whom practically have whole countries.

[This message has been edited by CoriSCapnSkip (edited February 26, 2007).]


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Robert Nowall
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I've quit looking for that dazzling new idea, and now just look for old ideas I can put my own original spin on. What, even in SF and fantasy, hasn't been done over and over?

Oh, I approve of hobbies-for-writers---on the one hand, you never know what will come in useful down the line---on the other hand, developing your writing might help you write about your hobby, too.

I've had lots of interests ("hobbies" might be stretching it) over the years. Usually the interest fades after awhile---but the information gathered remains with me, pretty much always. On tap, ready to put to use at any time.

My most sustained interest over the years---aside from writing---has been finding out anything and everything about the Beatles. Yet there are others, that come and go and sometimes come back.


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SharonID
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Non-writing hobbies are a very good thing—for some people, essential— for writers. Get hold of a copy of The Artist's Way and look up "hobbies" in the index, to see Julia Cameron's pithy remarks on the subject. There's a very good reason why the Writer's Digest Book Club carries a wide range of hobby/craft books (often at fabulous clearance prices, BTW) in addition to all the books they have on writing. Hobbies (as long as they don't turn into something like the kind of gaming addiction that keeps some potentially excellent writers from ever getting any writing done) are a good thing. People who only have one interest are going to have a hard time writing anything very interesting!

IMO, of course, but Julia Cameron backs me on that one, and so does online writing instructor Eva Shaw, who teaches several writing course through Ed2go. Eva has had many an idea break-through while caring for her prize-winning roses, IIRC. So take a hobby break and return to your writing refreshed!

Best Regards,

SharonID


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Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
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OSC has said several times that writers should not have main characters who are writers because writers' lives are just not all that interesting.

Lawrence Block (who used to write a fiction column for WRITER'S DIGEST) said once that writers need to have lots of other interests, and those interests need to change often (he may have even said that writers need fickle brains, or I may have remembered it that way). The reason for this is so that writers will have something to write about besides writing. He said that writers have to watch out for the tendency to empty their creative reservoirs without filling them up with new ideas, activities, information, experiences, etc.

So absolutely have other things going on in your life besides writing. The more things you have, and the more often you jump from one thing to another (I call it a "butterfly brain" but it's the same thing as a fickle brain), the more you will have to write about, and the more very different things you can put together in new and interesting ways.

It's all grist for the writing mill. (Connie Willis says that for writers, everything is their business. A writer can be as snoopy as he or she wants because everything is potential writing material.)

EVERYTHING


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Rommel Fenrir Wolf II
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Bashing your head against the wall is not a bad thing. I do it all the time and I find it rather relaxing. I have been doing it for the last 10 years and I am as sane as anyone I know.
I think we all know how you feel in trying to come up with an original idea. Although I think few of us would go and lose our minds over it thinking of it as lost time. Think of it as time well spent in pursuit of a dream.
Rommel Fenrir Wolf II

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Tara
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It seems to me that the reason you never wrote anything really successful was because you never learned to relax when you were writing.

You don't have to come up with an original idea. You just have to write about what's important to you. Think about something really amazing that happened to you -- a special trip, falling in love, a particularly good childhood memory, a passion of yours, anything. Take some time to sit and relax and think about it. Or don't think about it. Just let your mind clear. And then just write, without worrying about whether it's good or not, or for heaven's sake, original or not.

If you do that continualy for years, you'll come up with something that will really matter to other people. Brilliant ideas don't pop into your head, they grow there over a period of many years. You just have to relax, be patient, and stop beating yourself up.

And by all means, have some other goal in life besides writing. You should write because you have to, not because you want to call yourself a writer. I don't care about being called a writer or not; I simply have thoughts and stories that must be written down before I lose them. Just discard the whole concept of "being a writer" completely.


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Phanto
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Writing is an intensely creative art.

When you put together a sentence, already, wow, you've crafted something that most likely, has never been said exactly before! This is a tremendous excitement.

Further, when you write a great artistic work, you are not creating a dry conceptual work, where simple knowledge of facts will help. You are expressing emotions, experience. You are amalgamating -- or maybe emulsifying -- all your experiences into a mush, then making a Michealango-quality work out of that substance.

A rare genius can generate enough drama and existence through a life in solititude. Dickinson. But the average writer, needs stimulation; you need to experience the world, and feel. Feel until you bleed! (Thank you Ode to the Western Wind.)

That "blood" will fertilize your creative crop.

Oh, and pretty much anything is art if you experience it in a creative way and express yourself through it. The sublime can be experienced in endless ways, so says Heideger, Heschel, and numerous other philosophers. I, though a mediocre thinker, agree.

[This message has been edited by Phanto (edited February 28, 2007).]


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CoriSCapnSkip
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You are correct, for the most part I haven't relaxed enough to write. I bought this Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. but have not relaxed enough to read it.

[This message has been edited by Second Assistant (edited March 03, 2007).]


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Lynda
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I'm a professional sculptor, as well as a photographer, singer, etc. (many creative activities, but sculpting makes me money! Yay!). In any creative endeavor, if you aspire to make "high art" (which is what it sounds like you were trying to do), you're most likely going to fail. The reason for this is you'll be creating intellectually, analytically, rather than PASSIONATELY. People can tell the difference between something that was done "because you had to" to meet a deadline or whatever, and something that was done because you absolutely were driven to do it. Get "The Artist's Way" and work your way through it. I never got more than 1/3 of the way through it because I got so full of creative energy, I wasn't sleeping at all but was creating non-stop 18 hours a day (which isn't really healthy).

Beyond working on "The Artist's Way" (which is written to help writers, actors, and other creatives as well as artists), EXERCISE. Do some social activities. You think life is meaningless? Then add some meaning to your life! Volunteer at an animal shelter or a homeless shelter - both such places need lots of help. Find some way to HELP people, and then your life won't be meaningless. Volunteer at a hospital - working four hours a week can brighten your life immesurably, even if you're only the person pushing the flower cart around (I did that as a Candystriper in my teens). Become a Big Brother or Big Sister. There are so many needs in the world. Saying life is meaningless means you've chosen to make your life meaningless. Become meaningful to someone or some group and your life will be much richer for it. And you'll meet people who can be the basis of characters in your stories. And you'll experience or hear about experiences that will enrich your stories. Life is as meaningful as you make it. Get off your duff and help somebody - then your life will be worthwhile!

And when you're stuck for ideas - do some manual labor. I have complete epiphanies while cleaning my horses' stalls. Mindless work like that leaves my mind free to fly in all kinds of directions and I leave the barn refreshed and with my creative batteries recharged, as well as leaving my horses' stalls fresh and clean.

Lynda


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discipuli
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Non writing hobbies are essential... What would Wordsworth be if he never took time to appreciate nature? Every writer has to do things , especially put themselves in situations where interacting with people gives them ideas and characters to write about .

Lynda is write : ) , if your work has no passion you can't put everything you have into it , it will be a dull dry piece of prose no one will ever want to touch.

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