I listened to a lot of Pandora. I got really into the video above. I read aloud. I used a calling card. I was in a group situation. I ate cafeteria style. I’ll be home on Friday.
Long before I got here, I had an idea that all the problems I had writing this book would be solved in isolation, as if Vermont were some unknown function that would make x (me) an expert writer.
That hasn’t happened. I made important edits and did a lot of thinking about my characters, but my book isn’t done. If anything, being here has made me realize how much more I have to do.
But some things are facts. This was the first time since I was 22 that I spent more than two weeks outside of New York State. I didn’t die from lack of fusion cuisine. I actually like the country a lot, I just hate driving, which I didn’t have to do here.
I had a studio, which was something I didn’t know I needed in Brooklyn. Usually I write in my living room or a coffee shop. There’s an ideal that material things like space don’t make a difference in art. It’s true that you can be a bad writer anywhere, but having space makes being a good writer easier. While here, I made arrangements to get a studio in Brooklyn.
Before I came, I had a vague ambition to get far enough along in this book to get a job with health care, but I realized that having a real career doesn’t interest me right now. I’d rather focus on the book. I also feel better about my struggle to figure out cash/money and writing/art. Apparently that’s the main struggle of any creative person.
