Liabilities

There have to be drawbacks to a serious and prolonged writing effort, right? What's that old saying about doing everything in moderation--act in excess and you will pay? Is it possible that writing day and night for months on end does not have a downside? A destructive element? I think that depends on what you might consider a downside.

As copiously noted in prior posts, intensive writing is life changing. A wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, children, etc. can participate or have input to a degree, certainly their lives do, but when you come right down to it, putting pen to paper cannot be shared. Writing is a solitary pursuit that no one else can really participate in.

That never really bothered me, for at the time I started to write I was truly on my own, had been beaten down pretty far, and welcomed the opportunity to find a better place to live. Yet even so, innate tendencies of solitary reflection that existed before the fall were accentuated. Had I been married or going with someone at the time, the long, long hours and weeks of writing might well have spelled trouble. It isn't just the hours. I suspect that a compelling story line can successfully compete with any human relationship. Perhaps addiction is too strong a word, for at closure it is something of a relief to see it done and to walk away for a spell. Yet writing, and especially writing from the heart and center of inspiration, is a truly fulfilling experience (as posted yesterday).

Yes, I think there is a downside. Or so I surmise. There has to be. Perhaps it's that I didn't see much sense in the daily expectations of life before starting to write, and now see even less. But that's not correct. I do see less importance in what is highly treasured by others, but now find treasure in the small things that illuminate life with true pleasure. Or should I say the things of true pleasure in life.

As suggested at the beginning of this post, I think the outcome of intensive writing on lifestyle might or might not have a downside depending on what a person takes to the writing experience and what they come away with. I don't think I need say more.