advice for writers; or, pleasure in the pathless woods

Sometimes unplugging yourself from the internet is absolutely necessary.... the last month or so I have limited my access to about an hour or so a week (including email checking). I miss reading up on blogs as I often find them to provide much needed inspiration and general girl talk, but I have found in the past that detachment is the ONLY way to get into a good writing habit. On my plate this summer is the much dreaded last chapter of the dissertation, followed by trying to make sense of what the heck I wrote about a year ago and editing it. I know, I know, I broke rule number one for writers. But, so far, so good.


Along with the break-up of the internet, I've also found I need a consistent routine. So as to avoid going stir crazy I take my morning walk first. I then get dressed (because I was naked the first time) and leave the house. Where I spend most of my days lately is the public library, where I have encountered the "quiet room." For this reason it is the BEST library ever, more pleasing than any university or college library I have ever visited.  As you know most libraries are no longer truly quiet spaces. Here in the safety of the last existing library quiet room on earth are other writers typing, reading or daydreaming away. The energy in the room is palpable and I am motivated to produce.

The best part of the day is lunch, when I get to check out books for evening reading. Lately it has consisted of some classics, lots of cookbooks and Ayurveda, as well as the occasional disappointing bestseller (more on that in a future post). I think that anyone who writes, and especially those of us who have other full-time pursuits, goes through serious ups and downs in their level of commitment and ability to persevere.  I know I constantly struggle with finding the balance between life and work because I take a lot of work home with me. When you're a teacher its difficult not to, and if you love what you do then its not necessarily something you want to always shut off. 

This brings me to my last bit of advice for writers. In giving up the internet I have found spare hours to enjoy the outdoors and not let summer pass me by just because I have to write most of the week. Even though some writers will tell you that you MUST write every single day, I fudge on weekends. D. and I reserve these days for exploring new places and treasured old ones... time to revel in the "pathless woods"

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar:

I love not man the less, but Nature more,

From these our interviews, in which I steal

From all I may be, or have been before,

To mingle with the Universe, and feel

 What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

-- George Gordon, Lord Byron