That aspirational cabin sounds nice, but so do many of the myths we tell ourselves. Life is messy and the fact that we still make art in the midst of chaos is a testament to our willpower and that need for our art to be expressed.
Cannot recall what age I was when I realized Virginia Woolf's Room of One's Own was only possible because she had servants, but it went a long way to making me feel less like should-ing on myself.
If you want a good chuckle, you can look up all the articles on David Cameron's £25K writing shed.
A writing cabin! I've moved to Davis, CA where there's not much to do, or many people to meet, you're really just surrounded by crops, cattle, and STEM researchers. I think it serves as my writing cabin for now. Though I completely agree I could write so many twisted poems and short stories, maybe even a brief novel, in a cabin deep in the woods, 100%. My closest experience was my one night trip to a cabin in Idyllwild, I'll have to extend my stay next time.
(Something being a writer means: having your computer eat the masterful response to Kelton's essay you had almost finished. Curses!)
I get it. We have dreams or fantasies about the life we would lead "if only" things were different. If I only had the perfect cabin in the perfect place and no distractions, I could write great works of art. But we make choices (I know you know this). Life is full of compromises: a cabin or a house. Pets or not. A partner or not. None of these is simple or one-dimensional. Sometimes they sneak up on us or into our lives unintended. Some of us look back and dream of some idyllic life we let slip through our fingers, like the writer's cabin, but these are delusions - "if only." So curse the interruptions, Stomp your foot. Slam the door. And then get back to work. You've got a lot more to say.
This writer in her guest room writing, waves across the mountains. Though I lived in the mythical tiny log cabin for twenty years, I think I did my best writing once I left it. Also, don’t get me started on that Franzen essay in the New Yorker, I have a lot of feelings. 99! Amazing!
I have a writing cabin. Unfortunately I haven’t figured out how to use it for writing. I mostly use it to gather up distractions and excuses and bits of everyday life instead.
Like the writing cabin, the cliche images about the writing life don't apply to most of us. Everything in publishing takes longer, has more weird rules and customs associated with it, and pays less, than the movies would have you believe. The writing process isn't romantic, and inspiration is less important than perspiration. Book tours, big signings, and literary cocktail parties are vanishingly rare. The most realistic depiction I've seen of writing on screen is the interior monologue of Nicolas Cage's character in "Adaptation." I don't want to sound sour, though--a sense of humor is essential!
It's a weird movie. I didn't love where the plot went. But for writers, the early scenes where the guy is struggling to write his screenplay are golden.
That aspirational cabin sounds nice, but so do many of the myths we tell ourselves. Life is messy and the fact that we still make art in the midst of chaos is a testament to our willpower and that need for our art to be expressed.
Cannot recall what age I was when I realized Virginia Woolf's Room of One's Own was only possible because she had servants, but it went a long way to making me feel less like should-ing on myself.
If you want a good chuckle, you can look up all the articles on David Cameron's £25K writing shed.
lol amazing
A writing cabin! I've moved to Davis, CA where there's not much to do, or many people to meet, you're really just surrounded by crops, cattle, and STEM researchers. I think it serves as my writing cabin for now. Though I completely agree I could write so many twisted poems and short stories, maybe even a brief novel, in a cabin deep in the woods, 100%. My closest experience was my one night trip to a cabin in Idyllwild, I'll have to extend my stay next time.
(Something being a writer means: having your computer eat the masterful response to Kelton's essay you had almost finished. Curses!)
I get it. We have dreams or fantasies about the life we would lead "if only" things were different. If I only had the perfect cabin in the perfect place and no distractions, I could write great works of art. But we make choices (I know you know this). Life is full of compromises: a cabin or a house. Pets or not. A partner or not. None of these is simple or one-dimensional. Sometimes they sneak up on us or into our lives unintended. Some of us look back and dream of some idyllic life we let slip through our fingers, like the writer's cabin, but these are delusions - "if only." So curse the interruptions, Stomp your foot. Slam the door. And then get back to work. You've got a lot more to say.
Come on, computer! <3
This writer in her guest room writing, waves across the mountains. Though I lived in the mythical tiny log cabin for twenty years, I think I did my best writing once I left it. Also, don’t get me started on that Franzen essay in the New Yorker, I have a lot of feelings. 99! Amazing!
Always waving back from over the ridgelines <3
-- Absolutely love every single one of these dense words ! !
Thank you!
This is great!
I have a writing cabin. Unfortunately I haven’t figured out how to use it for writing. I mostly use it to gather up distractions and excuses and bits of everyday life instead.
A distraction cabin honestly sounds better
Beautiful stuff Kelton-I think we can all relate.
Like the writing cabin, the cliche images about the writing life don't apply to most of us. Everything in publishing takes longer, has more weird rules and customs associated with it, and pays less, than the movies would have you believe. The writing process isn't romantic, and inspiration is less important than perspiration. Book tours, big signings, and literary cocktail parties are vanishingly rare. The most realistic depiction I've seen of writing on screen is the interior monologue of Nicolas Cage's character in "Adaptation." I don't want to sound sour, though--a sense of humor is essential!
Will this finally make me watch Adaptation? We'll find out!!
It's a weird movie. I didn't love where the plot went. But for writers, the early scenes where the guy is struggling to write his screenplay are golden.
Write! Yes. Refreshing to realize that indeed I am not alone in my reclusiveness fantasy.