[2023-01-25] I love having written
This morning, I was listening to a recorded conversation between Alison Larkin and Simon Jones (both amazing audiobook narrators), in which Larkin quotes writer Dorothy Parker: "I hate writing, [but] I love having written."
This caught my attention. While I don't hate writing, I do agree that it can be challenging and intimidating. Most often, however, I love having written—not just the fact that I've put my thoughts down in words, but also the final product. I enjoy reading past posts. They're a bit like eating leftovers: I savour them the way I would if the food had been made by someone else.
I mentioned this statement to my daughter at breakfast. As a writer, she got it immediately.
We started thinking about other activities that we may dislike or that are hard, but that produce an outcome we appreciate: cooking, cleaning, exercising, learning a language, filling the car up with gas.
Today's such activity was taking down the Christmas tree and the last of the holiday decorations. I enjoy the putting up more than the taking down. The former results in a cozy, inviting feeling, with twinkling lights. The latter creates a sparser decor, but one that nevertheless appeals to my orderly mind.
Mel and I remarked that challenging activities can be made more enjoyable when done with someone else, such as exercising, cooking and traveling. Writing, however, tends to be a solitary activity. It's just you, the pen and the paper, or you, the keyboard and the screen.
According to several sources, the quote "I hate writing, but I love having written" has been attributed to Dorothy Parker, Frank Norris, George R.R. Martin, and many others. In Write By Night, David Duhr acknowledges that writing isn't easy but offers this take on the quote:
But when I do sit down to do it, I love it. Even when the going is slow and the words just aren’t coming. I enjoy the act of creating.
I do also enjoy the "having written" part. Not necessarily the product itself, because that’s hit and miss (and miss, and miss), but I love the existence of the product. The fact that something now exists that didn’t exist before, and the fact that I’m responsible for its existence.
But to me the process is more enjoyable and more fulfilling than the product.
I'm the opposite. I like the finished product, even more so when I reflect on how much effort went into its creation.
What I take from the statement is to remember the joy that comes with having written (or baked, or tidied, or raised a child) when we face the sometimes daunting task of having to write. Rejoice in the thing that now exists because of our action: the letter, the cookies, the clean room, the child who makes us proud.
