Rosenfeld’s A Writer’s Guide to Persistence

There are many philosophies behind writing and why one does it.

I was lucky enough to be intrigued by the cover of this book while I was at the Writer's Digest conference in New York, and I also found the whole title A Writer's Guide to Persistence: A Toolkit for Building a Lasting Writing Practice.

Writing practice? As opposed to a writing career? In a world where many conceive of publication and accolade as the desirable end of writing, this is an interesting take on writing as art. I find similar philosophies in Wonderbook.

As you know, my main focus in regard to writing is to create meaningful work, and most importantly, to create meaningful work for myself. If I can share that work, so much the better, but writing for money is not my goal. Nor do I think that writing for money is a problem. Everyone's gotta eat. I eat by teaching, and I fear that if I turn writing into a job, it will suck the joy of doing the art right out of it for me.

Yes, we've talked about me, art, stress, Type A, all that jazz before. No need to rehash it. But, as much as I would like to publish, that is not what or why I write. I write to discover. I write to live in worlds. I write to play, and I have a lot of ideas that just keep my mind racing.

There is a focus on frittering time versus doing writing. And it's a question of enjoying your writing. The book is full of support for people who want to establish a regular writing practice, write, and take risk. Enjoy.

So, if this sounds like you, and rather than looking for a book on how to break in, or how to become a best seller, if you're looking for a way to celebrate your art, do it regular, and focus on your own satisfaction, I like this one. I also like Wonderbook but I gushed about that one already.

Art is interesting. Our reasons for doing it are varied. I want to feel joy and get close to the divine. But no, they can't have my money back from my first pro-sale either.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.