Saturday, August 9, 2014

August 9 2014. Should a writer have a hobby? Drinking doesn’t count. Where writers are concerned, that tends to be classified as a necessity. Probably best if it’s something physical, something athletic…

“It's not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on.”
Marilyn Monroe

“I don't know the question, but sex is definitely the answer.”
Woody Allen

“I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.”
Steve Martin

“Reading—it’s the third best thing to do in bed.”
Jarod Kintz, This Book Title is Invisible

“Good sex is like good bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.”
Mae West

“Sex, whatever else it is, is an athletic skill. The more you practice, the more you can, the more you want to, the more you enjoy it, the less it tires you.”
Robert A. Heinlein, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls


Goddess: The Secret Life of Marilyn MonroeI particularly like this photo of Marilyn because she looks so vulnerable and sexual—in it. It would melt the heart.

It is impressive how often MM said something quotable. Marilyn was very far from a dumb blond.

A friend of mine, Best Selling author Anthony Summers (to whom I owe a great deal) wrote the definitive biography of MM.

It’s called GODDESS. Go read it

What is a hobby anyway (a typical writer’s question)? As always, I shall ask Wiki.

A hobby is a regular activity that is done for pleasure, typically during one's leisure time.

Hobbies can include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports or other amusements. By continually participating in a particular hobby, one can acquire substantial skill and knowledge in that area.

And now I think of it, what is leisure time (another typical writer’s question)? We writers have no idea because we are either writing, or thinking about writing. Eugene Ionesco put it more elegantly.

A writer never has a vacation. for a writer’s life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.

Since a disturbing number of people don’t seem to get writing—and particularly its solitary nature—I am human enough to pay attention to such attitudes and to question my own?

Should I, for instance, have a hobby—something completely separate from writing?

Well, theoretically, I probably should—if only to cultivate perspective. However, to be detached from writing is easier said than done because being a writer involves vastly more than writing.

It is more equivalent to a lens through which you observe every waking moment. In effect, you interpret the world as a writer—and it is not a mindset you can switch on and off even if you wanted to—and you’d be a very strange writer if you did.

After all, you have spent years, if not decades, training your mind to observe, analyze, and empathize--and then turn your conclusions—your developed thoughts—into the written word—so the last thing you want to do is undermine such a formidable facility in any way.

But if you can’t top thinking like a writer, surely you can stop thinking about writing?

I’ll let you know when I have managed it.

Just my little joke.

Actually, I think a great deal about matters other than writing. For instance I think about family and friends—including dead friends—much more often than I suspect they realize (the dead may know for all I know) and I have a wide range of interests such as military matters and economics (plus an obsession with domes). However, I will concede that although I exercise every day, most of my interests are cerebral—and most intersect with writing sooner or later.

Everything does. That’s one of the reasons why I love what I do so much. You pay the price—which is high—but it offers—and delivers—a whole world.

So what I really should do is find a physical activity which doesn’t involve the brain too much.

Can I think of one?

You know I think I can.


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