Reasons to put your desk in the corner and embrace what life is really about.
One of the most influential reads for me as a writer, as it likely is for some others, was On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King. If I'm honest, it's the only thing by Stephen King that I've ever read. I don't read much in the way of horror, it's just not my thing. However you might feel about the genre, it's undeniable that the man has been a huge success. Americans are as familiar with his name as they are with "Coke" or "Walt Disney." It's no surprise then, that his book about writing comes highly recommended.
As someone who didn't read his works, I didn't know much about the man's life. I didn't know about his struggles with alcohol or his subsequent recovery process and how it shaped much of his life. And like most people, I presumed him to be the kind of successful writer who had a fancy office, and a large desk full of Important Things. Imagine my surprise to learn that he, in fact, advises against this as a practice.
“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.”― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I'm facing this conundrum again. For many reasons. I want to write, I want to get my next book drafted, and I want to get it done...now. Yet life always seems to have other plans. As a woman who is seven months pregnant, I guess I shouldn't be surprised! But instead of resenting that fact, I'm embracing it.
Let me give you an past example. Last school year was my daughter's first. I had been a stay-at-home mom until that point. If you have experienced this, then you know the singular and peculiar joy of spending your days with your child. It often felt like Alice and I were a little team.
Last summer, the team was about to change. Alice was going to start school, and that was a good thing. Still, it was hard to not feel as though her babyhood was slipping through my fingers and I would look up soon to find her grown and leaving the house for good. Motherhood is like that. The pain and joy of it intermingles and often sneaks up to ambush you. I clutched her little hand in mine tightly as we made our treks to the park and the library. We did little art projects at the house and watched movies cuddled together on the couch.
I did almost no writing for over a month.
I missed my self-imposed deadline. However, I still published my book. I still had a successful book launch. I still became an author.
It wasn't the first time I needed to choose my personal life over my career goals. It's happening again now, and I know that it will continue to happen. Sometimes life just interrupts art. Sometimes we just have to go with it. And trust in your ability to return to your work, your craft, your art, when life allows it again.
And it will.
Life is more important than the work that makes it up. Yes, we have to work to eat. Yes, we have to make a living. Just please, dear friend, never forget to what purpose we strive. It is not for the big desk in the center of a big office full of Important Things. Our desk gets shoved in a corner of the greater picture of our life because our life shouldn't revolve around supporting our art. Art supports our life.
Every day I set goals and write and work. Every day I do it for the betterment of my child's future. It is for her that I labor. It is for my family that I work. They are not the support pillars for my world, they are my world.
What does your art support? Who do you write for? Who is your world?
Today my advice is to take a break from the work. Don't write your 500 words today. Don't kill yourself to get in the time. Instead, hold your child's hand. Hug your spouse. Call your sibling. Remind yourself why you work so hard in the first place. Tomorrow you can write again. Today, remember what goes in the center of the room. You can return to your desk in the corner tomorrow.