8 Comments

  1. I always like to say “You can’t write unless you’ve lived”. Did a survey once, to check how old most successful writers were when they published their first novels, and they trend to the mid to late 30’s, and some only find success when they’re older still. I think you’ve hit exactly on why.

    • 14468785_10155275918788275_4846562397247002011_o
      Haralambi Markov
      3/14/2014
      Reply

      I feel as though as the 20s are the period in life where you’re accustoming to adulthood once the energy of youth wears of youth starts wearing off and you form more completely. At least that’s how I feel it as and feeds the writing later on.

  2. Hehe, my first published story (horrifyingly old now) was kind of about this: a young artist struggling to figure out who he is while also trying to create worthwhile art. End result? He had to go out and “live a little” first. Gather experiences, textures, and tastes of life.

    I struggle with this too, as I’m kind of stuck in a place where I really can’t do big adventurous things (even small outings can seem monstrously challenging while pregnant!), but I’m trying to remember that there are lots of writers who also didn’t travel the world, and yet still managed to write really interesting works of literature (like Emily Dickenson, or Jane Austen with her “one inch of ivory”). It’s an adventure in its own right, if a more personal, quiet adventure–not quite Hemingway’s travels, but perhaps good enough! Now I just have to figure out what my “one inch of ivory” really is!

    • 14468785_10155275918788275_4846562397247002011_o
      Haralambi Markov
      3/14/2014
      Reply

      For me, adventure means abandoning the known and the routine. Taking a step back from your own constructed world where you have all the control and know how things will unfurl. So for me an adventure would be to actually go into some part of the city I haven’t been to and speak with strangers. Yeah, that’s how painfully into my own routine I am.

      • Maggie
        3/14/2014
        Reply

        Hehe–I think we’re a lot alike in that. And perhaps it’s more about being present-minded and actually *noticing* even the things we find commonplace in our day-to-day lives and recognizing that they may not be commonplace for others who aren’t used to it. (Like getting used to seeing the ocean everyday on a drive into work, or waking up hearing the chickadees have changed their call from the standard winter call to their spring mating call.) Getting out of one’s standard routine seems like a great way to look at what we thought we knew with beginner’s eyes.

        • Maggie
          3/14/2014
          Reply

          Maybe it’s kind of like how Hemingway said he could only write about a locale once he’d gotten away from it for a while–that it’s only in hindsight that we can notice those things about a place that we took for granted before…

        • 14468785_10155275918788275_4846562397247002011_o
          Haralambi Markov
          3/15/2014
          Reply

          Exactly. That’s what I’m going for. Although, I’m honestly doing something much bigger. Once Clarion is over with, I will be moving away to the Sofia – our love-hated capitol. I need more opportunities to grow.

          • Ooo, exciting! Nothing like a move to shake things up. Looking forward to where this year will end up for both of us! ^_^

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