Garrison Keillor to me: Get over it, already

[pegkerr]

I have sort of a hard time not taking this personally. Garrison Keillor says that writers who gripe that Writing is Hard (and you all know that I've bitched plenty about being blocked in this journal before) should just get a grip and knock it off. Writing is hard. Get over it.

Writers, Quit Whining. Spare us the self-involved moaning over the agonies of your art. Writing is no harder than anything else, and the complainers should can it.

Ouch.

Thoughts?

Comments

[ali-wildgoose.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on the situation. If one spends a lot of time talking to other writers, and reading blogs of writers, and really exposing themselves to what it really means to write for a living...yes, of course that person would have a pretty good idea of how hard it would be to do.

But I've noticed that many novices, who have no context to draw from, think of writing as something that you just sort of sit down an do. And I know that from my personal experience, I often try and convince myself that now that I have X ammount of experience, the process won't be nearly as hard as it used to be. Which of course isn't really true. :/

However...yes, for the most part, you're probably right. It's easy for an outsider to take note that writers aren't actually lifting heavy things or getting covered in grime and sweat, and therefore assume that writing shouldn't be considered hard work. ;}