The truth is... and I'm sorry to disappoint all you aspiring writers out there... most writing days are not all that happy. Mostly, at least for me, writing is hard work and takes a lot of slogging. And a lot of the time, I'm not even so thrilled or impressed with what I just wrote. (I usually start feeling a little more positive during the re-writing process.)
But today was a happy writing day -- for all kinds of reasons. The first was the actual writing, which seemed to come easily and without too much forcing on my part. I've been writing long enough to know that days like this are a special gift, and that they help to keep us going on the rougher days.
I also got a boost from various bits of good writing news. One is that a French website called Pauselecture gave a thumb's up to my book Poupée (the French translation of On the Game). Click here if your French is good and you want to read the review. I'm especially excited that Pauselecture described the book as "Superbe" -- some compliments sound extra good en francais, don't you think?
The other bit of good writing news is that I learned Junkyard Dog has just gone into its second printing. The cover is new, though similar to the original -- and well, if I saw it, I'd want to read the book (even if I didn't know I wrote it)!!
Hope you've had your share of happiness today, too. Last year, on a plane trip back from Paris, I had a lovely conversation with a man who shared his philosophy about life. He said he felt that happiness was too much to ask for -- that life is about "happy moments." What do you say to that?
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Comments
Hi Monique,
Above all, congratulation for this great review; it makes me want to read it! It must have been a 'hard' topic to research.
Also, I liked your post of today, being myself on a 'writing' schedule for the whole coming year. I thought I was first too lazy to write on a daily basis, then I became addicted to writing and started to write every morning for at least 2-3 hours in order to do the editing in the afternoon and I would read at night. I'm now pretty consistent in this new 'writer' routine and I see improvement in my writing (write in french though!). It is true, most of the time writing is not an easy thing; it takes all my mind and all my energy; I almost feel totally disconnected by the end of the day (and its mostly a lonely 'activity'). Writing is intense and demanding! And then its also difficult to keep the motivation sometimes when what we do seems bad.. but we keep doing it so I guess its because we need it (and love it).
Are you teaching a class at Marianopolis next year?
Have a wonderful summer,
Rosalie
I MISS YOUR CLASS!
So i've come to tell you a couple of things:
1) I love your little blurbs!
2) Congratulations on the great book review for Poupée
3) I read your article about the North in the Gazette today. I really enjoyed it
Great to "hear" your "voice," Cristina! When I hear it, I remember the piece you wrote at the end of last term -- that shows you how much your story stayed with me, and how powerful it was. Hope you're having a great summer! M