The writing life may seem idyllic to some, but not to those who toil for hours on end probing the depths of their imagination in hopes of capturing the attention of readers. Lost in their craft, time passes like slow-moving clouds as they hunt for the right word\u2026or turn of phrase\u2026before moving on to the next paragraph. Over time, a story begins to take shape, ultimately resulting in a manuscript. But it is only a crude approximation of the finished work. Days of sanding, polishing, and perfecting lie ahead. Only then is one\u2019s creation ready to be birthed \u2013 pushed out to the world either to be embraced or rejected.<\/p>\n
As such, writing is an exercise in faith\u2026the unshakable belief that there will be a payoff for one\u2019s perseverance — not in the lofty form of penning a best-seller, but rather in the knowledge that one has crossed the desert and become stronger for the effort. It\u2019s a journey all too often romanticized by the uninitiated.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why even the most successful writers speak of the demands and anguish of their craft. \u00a0It is a love\/hate relationship that simultaneously captivates and imprisons them. One need not look any further than their words for proof:<\/p>\n
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.<\/p>\n
Ernest Hemingway<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.<\/p>\n
F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Let’s face it, writing is hell.<\/p>\n
William Styron<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The battle is about more than just putting words on a page. For some, it is facing the specter of incessant self-doubt. For others, it is the ability to suspend belief while living in a chaotic world:<\/p>\n
Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.<\/p>\n
Anne Frank<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair.<\/p>\n
Annie Dillard<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So why do writers put themselves through such self-flagellation on a daily basis? They have no choice. It is as encoded in their DNA as is the color of their eyes.<\/p>\n
But, there\u2019s also far more than just agony\u2026as Alice Walker describes: \u201cThere’s an ecstatic side to writing. It’s like jazz. It just has a life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The writing life may seem idyllic to some, but not to those who toil for hours on end probing the depths of their imagination in hopes of capturing the attention of readers. Lost in their craft, time passes like slow-moving clouds as they hunt for the right word\u2026or turn of phrase\u2026before moving on to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-blog","category-home-page"],"yoast_head":"\n
Masochism or Meditation: It Depends on the Writer\u2019s Point of View - John Leifer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I left my last job with a sigh of relief and a quick spin of my tires as I pulled away from the parking lot, never to return.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/johnleifer.com\/?p=638\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Masochism or Meditation: It Depends on the Writer\u2019s Point of View - John Leifer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I left my last job with a sigh of relief and a quick spin of my tires as I pulled away from the parking lot, never to return.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/johnleifer.com\/?p=638\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Leifer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webworksofkc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-24T22:17:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-24T22:37:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/johnleifer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/is_writing_masochism_or_meditation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"687\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Leifer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LeiferJohn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LeiferJohn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Leifer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Leifer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/111d0a78f56db123e7849f5bbe8f6750\"},\"headline\":\"Masochism or Meditation: It Depends on the Writer\u2019s Point of View\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-24T22:17:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-24T22:37:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638\"},\"wordCount\":441,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/is_writing_masochism_or_meditation.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"blog\",\"home page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/johnleifer.com\\\/?p=638\",\"name\":\"Masochism or Meditation: It Depends on the Writer\u2019s Point of View - 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