The Writing Life

The evening news tells us that many people these days are cramming 31 hours into 24. They question whether people are any more productive.

I can’t vouch for quality, but there’s no question about quantity. How did I live without a computer?

Today I’ve been working on three separate projects and dealing with editors and secretaries in London, New York, and Virginia. Two of these projects were generated by a blog I wrote months ago. At the time only two or three comments were posted and I was discouraged. Then came an invitation to be principal speaker at a conference in Roanoke, Virginia. With that conference coming up next week, I’ve been back and forth with the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia about getting handouts to be distributed. In the midst of that, from London, came a request to edit the material in my blog so it can be used as bulletin inserts available to Episcopal Churches everywhere. And, of course, I heard today from the editor of an upcoming book in New York that the material I had sent on a disc wasn’t there, so would I please send it in sections by e-mail.

I did take one day this week to travel to Hartford to do some research on my major writing project, but that’s taken a seat at the back of the bus lately.

No wonder I haven’t posted a blog in some days. After all, it’s springtime and I’ve had to break to plant three dwarf apple trees, two gooseberry bushes, and some broccoli.

But I do ponder now and again what life was like for Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens, scratching away with their quill pens at a thousand words a day.

I also remember that their words are still read!