When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at nine p.m. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind. But to hold to such repetition for so long — six months to a year — requires a good amount of mental and physical strength. In that sense, writing a long novel is like survival training. Physical strength is as necessary as artistic sensitivity. —Haruki Murakami
Posts tagged "writing"
Fiction
It is not un-natural that the best writers are liars. A major part of their trade is to lie or invent and they will lie when they are drunk, or to themselves, or to strangers. They often lie unconsciously and then remember their lies with deep remorse. If they knew all other writers were liars too it would cheer them up.
―Ernest Hemingway
Fifty-two
There are times when it feels as if you have so little power, even over your own life, that it’s hardly worth it to try. You’ll make the best of whatever comes your way, creating small moments of beauty and happiness, but you won’t be able to alter the big picture. But this week, see what happens if you allow yourself to imagine that you can change the world around you — and your own trajectory. You may be proven right.