I ran across the below article some time ago -and saved it.... and every time I read it ... I think, this is great. I decided it's time to share it with you. Hope you enjoy it. Rita
Erik Larson (Photo by Benjamin Benschneider)
Top 10 Essentials to a Writer’s Life
1. Good
Coffee: Every writer has a ritual that begins the day. It’s like turning a
key to start your car. For me, the key that starts the day is a good cup of
coffee, preferably Peet’s Coffee.
2. More
Coffee: Alas, I drink as many as five cups a day. And then switch to tea.
My teeth are the color of plum-tree leaves.
3. Oreo
Cookies: I mean, look, if you have a cup of good coffee, you need an Oreo.
Some mornings—the tough ones—I define as two-Oreo days. Double Stuf preferred.
4. A
Sense of Pace: Many writers make the mistake of engaging in what I call
“binge writing.” They write for 10 hours straight, riding the perfect wave of
inspiration. The problem is, you still need to wake up the next day and do it
again. Best is to pace yourself. Write for three hours straight, without
interruption, then stop.
5. Knowing
Where to Stop: My favorite “trick” is to stop writing at a point where I
know that I can pick up easily the next day. I’ll stop in mid-paragraph, often
in mid-sentence. It makes getting out of bed so much easier, because I know
that all I’ll have to do to be productive is complete the sentence. And by then
I’ll be seated at my desk, coffee and Oreo cookie at hand, the morning’s
inertia overcome. There’s an added advantage: The human brain hates incomplete
sentences. All night my mind will have secretly worked on the passage and
likely mapped out the remainder of the page, even the chapter, while
simultaneously sending me on a dinner date with Cate Blanchett.
6. Blocks
of Undisturbed Time: I set aside a minimum of three hours every morning,
seven days a week, during which no one is allowed to intrude except to report
an approaching cruise missile.
7. Physical
Diversion: When I stop writing, I need an escape—something that takes me
out of the work and wholly into another realm. My main diversion is tennis,
though I also find cooking to be very helpful. Something about chopping onions
is very restorative. Dogs are helpful, too. They force you to go outside and confront
the weather, although my dog did once eat a 19th-century edition of a British
physicist’s autobiography.
8. A
Good Library: For all writers, but especially those of us who write
nonfiction, a good library with open stacks is crucial.
9. A
Trusted Reader: Every writer I know has at least one friend or partner who
can be trusted to read early drafts of a book and provide an accurate,
constructive critique. My secret weapon is my wife, who annotates the margins
of my drafts with crying faces, smiles and long receding lines of zzzzzzzzzzzs.
10. A
Fireplace: One of the most important things a writer must do is read, and
there’s no greater pleasure than settling in front of a fire on a cold night
with a good book (and maybe a glass of bourbon). Falling asleep in midpage is
one of the delights of life.
Erik Larson
is the author of The New York Times bestsellers In the Garden of
Beasts, Thunderstruck, Isaac’s Storm and The Devil in the White
City, which was a finalist for a National Book Award. He has written for The
Atlantic, Harper’s, The New Yorker and other publications.
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