“What no wife [or husband] of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out a window.”
– Burton Rascoe
Hi Writers:
Some days it feels like the only thing I stare at is this computer screen. Thank goodness for Rascoe’s dose of sanity. His words help me combat my ferocious need to be busy. He challenges that taskmaster part of me that thinks I must be productive every moment. Create. Create. Create. Enough already!
Recent studies have shown that multi-tasking leads to brain rot. People are not machines. Writers have known this for centuries. We need time and space. We need long walks, not just for exercise, for meandering, for smelling the air, just simply for breathing. We need to stare at our feet and let our minds unwind. But how often do we give ourselves the luxury of a spare moment?
I remember being a kid and standing in our barn, staring at the grain in the wood wall. My Father found me and said, “Don’t just stand there. Do something.” He didn’t realize I was busy preparing for my life as a writer.
When was the last time you stared out a window? As a writer, it’s your job to sip hot cocoa and watch the grass stiffen in the cold. What’s keeping you? Get to work!
Nita(is that lint in my bellybutton?)Sweeney
(c) 2003 by Nita Sweeney
