Two metric tonnes of firewood.
That’s what distracted me from writing during the weekend – need to pile-up the wood, because as that guy said (was he from Gazprom?), winter is coming.
Sure it’s not like sitting at the PC, I was told.
The world’s full of stand-up comedians.
Fact is, as I tried to explain to the happy comedian, I do not sit at the PC.
I work at the PC.
It’s hard work – just like stockpiling firewood.
With a little difference – I can do both, he can only move the logs around.
He did not like it, put that way.
And yet, I stick to my position – writing’s hard work.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s also great fun.
I mean – sitting alone in a darkened room, making up stories about imaginary people?
Really?
And reading books and watching movies and documentaries to get ideas for those stories?
And getting paid for that?
You got to be kidding.
Sure, it’s fun.
But it’s also work.
As work it as an ethic, it requires a set of skills that must be honed through practice, and it costs in term of physical and mental fatigue.
Yes, fatigue.
I can hammer out four thousand words in two hours after dinner (there’s nothing on the telly anyway), and believe me, afterwards I sleep like a baby.
Dead tired.
But reasonably happy.
The point of the whole writing business, in the end, is balancing the fun with the fatigue.
There’s an upside to stockpiling wood, on the other hand.
Sitting alone in a darkened room (etc.) is not exactly good for your health*.
Cramped back, carpal tunnel, circulatory problems and swelling ankles… hell, writing 8 hours a day can be bad for your health**.
That’s why doing something physical once in a while can be useful.
A real life-saver.
Walking (I try and do that as much as possible), but yes, also bending down, lifting up the logs, loading the cart, pushing it to the shed, moving the logs…
So, ok, I prefer walking, but hey, managing the firewood supply is physical activity anyway.
Writing is fun.
It is so much fun that the idea of spending the rest of my life doing just that – provided I can pay my bills – is very attractive.
On the other hand, it can’t become the only activity, my only daily routine.
The body needs action.
And the mind, too.
Cooking a dinner, trying to sketch something (I’m hopeless with pencils and paper), taking pictures, talking to people…
We need all that.
It’s part of the job.
It keeps us running, like the Doobie Brothers used to sing.
No, better yet, it’s part of being alive.
And you can’t write write write if you’re not alive.
Extra Bonus
While I was researching background for this post (yes, I do research for Firewood Stockpiling Adverntures, too) I chanced upon this excellent article, fresh from the Lit Central O.C. blog.
And it’s just… well, just what the doctor ordered.
Don’t Let Writing Become a Pain in the Neck (or Back, or Shoulders)
Watch your back, out there!
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* and adding biscuits, crisps, assorted finger foods and carbonated drinks is not making it any healthier.
** if it’s any consolation, working long hours at a microscope had the same effects on me – don’t just blame the typewriter!
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