Thought for The Day

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“It always takes a year for me to get over a book. I mean, I can’t leap into the next one.”
–Michael Ondaatje, in “The Believer.”

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9 thoughts on “Thought for The Day”

  1. To give Ondaatje his due, he does write poetry while waiting for the next novel to grab hold.

    I’m a big Ondaatje fan. But I’m also someone who remembers vividly — me, who remembers nothing! (wow, total Jack Pendarvis steal there, “Me, with my eczema!”) — James Wolcott’s piece on Joyce Carol Oates, which may have run with the headline, “Stop Me Before I Write Again.” I can’t swear by the headline, but I am certain, 25 years later, that Wolcott (whom I admire, local boy made good, etc.) argued that Oates’ work suffered because she was prolific.

    Okay, I can’t respond to that critique because I haven’t read enough Oates (has anyone?), but I’ve liked everything I’ve read. (Full disclosure, I’ve met Oates and she chose one of my stories for Best American Mystery Stories.) But — does Oates suffer?

    Our culture is very uncomfortable with prolific writers, although a few get a bye. (Roth, Updike.) The New Yorker, which celebrated Christopher Hitchens’ ability to write very fast and well, was less comfortable, to my way of reading, with Philip K. Dick. (Okay, two different writers, but I think the contrast is interesting.)

    As I’ve mentioned before, I went to an “open-space” high school, where students were supposed to go at their own pace. As a result, I finished a year of English in one semester and remained always a little ahead of schedule, even once I had a few friends. (As a sophomore transfer that first year, I didn’t have many social distractions.)

    Now I have a contractual deadline of Oct. 1 but, given the change in my publication date, a hoped-for submission date of Sept. 1. Given that this date fell over the Labor Day weekend, I assumed no one wanted to see it before Sept. 4. I assumed wrong, so I was shooting for Aug. 30 as a deadline. But late yesterday, it was clear to me — after spending four hours on revising the final paragraph — that it was counter-productive not to let go.

    So away it went. And I’m depressed. Thank God there’s a Project Runway marathon AND a showing of Empty Cradle. (I know one of the actors who has a small part in this movie and I always have to remind myself not to scream, “You were in Empty Cradle!”)

  3. Okay, there are some obvious reasons I was drawn to this quote, which I happened on during my lunchtime reading.

    1) I sent a book off this week, to my editor and agent, and I am taking the whole week off from writing, but then I have to start a short story that’s due Oct. 1.

    2) I take a month off, typically, although I know I need to do a lot of research in that off month this year. That’s about right for me. I don’t leap from economic necessity. I leap because I don’t have a clue what else I would do.

    3) Remember L’Espirit d’Escalier, a feature during my tour? Today, I didn’t have to wait for the staircase. A man at the coffeehouse asked me today — and he was, I think, sincerely well-intentioned — “Woud you say you grind your books out, or churn them?”

    Me: “I prefer to say that I write them.”

  5. I like to write fast because we’re all going to die one day and then we’re going to be like, “Whoa!” Also, the good thing about dying one day is: who cares if my books aren’t that good and everybody says so? At least there will plenty of them (increasing the odds of one of them being decent) and I’ll be dead anyway so my feelings won’t be hurt. Or I’ll come back and haunt their sorry asses. Nothing but time! P.S. Hey, Laura, can you get emails from my brand new email address? I’m just checking because they have been going into some people’s junk folders. Last night I sent you something about an amazing and prophetic coincidence. Or what passes for one in my house. And about Joyce Carol Oates, I read a really good story of hers recently. Mark Twain was the main character! It was in McSweeney’s a few issues ago. I’m afraid I don’t know too much about her, but that story was just dandy. I say everybody should just go nuts and write any way they want.

  6. Plus I started publishing late so my intention is to crank them out like a madman. I have a lot of catching up to do! But commenting on blogs is equally satisfying and I spend most of my time doing that instead, as you can see.

  7. Jack, I’m not getting your e-mails — couldn’t even find them in the spam folder — and I’m not sure I have your new address.

    On the plus side, I never check my spam because so much gets throughI couldn’t imagine what didn’t. It was . . . interesting.

  8. i just finished your book what the dead know and all i can is WOW! so much in your book i did not see coming at all. really enjoyed meeting you at thurber house in columbus ohio and had to finish baltimore blues before i picked up this new book. again, all i can say is WOW! thanks for a great read.
    mary

  9. Wait…there’s a Project Runway marathon? Why did I not know this? My project for the weekend is to go through my manuscript one last time before sending it off to agent and editor next week, so I really shouldn’t indulge in Project Runway…although perhaps reading during commercials could work? And as for “leaping” into the next book, Dusty’s right: None of us really has a choice, do we, if we want to keep being published.

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