DONALD WILLERTON
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Overview
    • Novels >
      • Teddy's War
      • Smoke Dreams
      • The King of Trash
    • Mogi Franklin Mysteries >
      • 1. Ghosts of the San Juan
      • 2. The Lost Children
      • 3. The Secret of La Rosa
      • 4. The Hidden River
      • 5. The Lake of Fire
      • 6. Outlaw
      • 7. The Lady in White
      • 8. The Captains Chest
      • 9. River of Gold
      • 10. War Train
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Photo Blog
    • War Train
    • Teddy's War
    • Smoke Dreams
    • Ghosts of San Juan
    • The Lost Children
    • The Secret of La Rosa
    • The Hidden River
    • The Lake of Fire
    • Outlaw
    • The Lady in White
    • The Captain's Chest
    • River of Gold
  • Contact

Willerton Blog

Donald Willerton
Notify Me

Working Hard or Hardly Working

4/30/2018

0 Comments

 
I stated that I was dedicating some weeks to do some physical labor, as opposed to what I usually do, which is write, read, edit, edit some more, read some more, and sit around dreaming. And go to lunch, every day.
I was successful. I tore down an old deck and hauled away the wood; cut down a large tree and hauled away the trunk and branches; and replaced an old window with a new window. This week will be another week of labor – replacing three more windows; cutting up old deck wood into woodstove-sized pieces; and preparing a house to be stuccoed.
In my evenings, surprising even me, I edited two new novels, submitting one to an editor, and went through a proof for a new Mogi Franklin mystery that will be published September first.
Woohoo! – I got to do both of the types of labor that I like to do and I did both of them well.
Which labor do I favor?
That’s a good question, because the answer is “both, provided I can choose to do whatever I want on any particular day.”
It’s an issue of competition.  Declaring a certain time period to be dedicated to one type of labor or another, or, in fact, declaring a certain time period for family, for vacation, for helping others, for concentrated walks, for some other block of activity, is my way of decreasing the competition between the different forms of labor. It decreases the frustration associated with not doing something that I want to do because I’m doing something else.
I have the greatest admiration for those writers who get up in the morning two hours before the rest of the family so they can write. There are many stories of people who do so to have the peace and concentration they need to write. Or they go off for a week to write undisturbed. Or they write at night after the family is in bed.
In my case, it’s important to be able to choose. I’m a fair-weather type of laborer. I understand why people have to work outside when it’s very cold or very hot or very windy or very wet, but I’m sorry that the work requires it. I worked for a carpenter once who treated working in the worst weather possible as a badge of honor. He wanted it to rain hard just so he could bundle up in his rain gear and prove himself on the battlefield of labor.
He and I didn’t get along very well.  I did the work, but I think rain in the morning is a sign to sleep late and rain in the afternoon is a sign to quit early.
Sometimes, I need to do literary work. Sometimes, I need to do physical labor.  Sometimes, I need to do neither, contemplating instead all that I’m not doing. That was referred to by Hemingway as “taking time to store up for the times to come”, an attitude that I like.  Of course, you’re saying, it’s because I’m a retired fat guy with a pension. I accept that as valid criticism; it is a significant advantage.
It makes it no less important, though, that writers and other artists must know themselves to be able to manage themselves, especially in terms of creativity, inspiration, pace, and balance. We all have work. The major thing is that we should have control over the work and not the work over us.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Don Willerton has been a reader all his life and yearns to write words like the authors he has read.  He's working hard at it and invites others to share their experiences.

    Archives

    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017

    Categories

    All
    Author
    Book Ideas
    Courage
    Ghosts Of San Juan Photo Blog
    Mogi Books
    Mogi Franklin Mysteries
    Outlaw
    Persistence
    PhotoBlog
    Photo Blog
    Plot
    Readers
    River Of Gold
    The Hidden River
    The Hidden River Photo Blog
    The Lady In White
    The Lake Of Fire
    The Lake Of Fire Photo Blog
    The Secret Of La Rosa Photo Blog
    Writer
    Writing
    Writing Characters
    Writing Structure

    RSS Feed


Copyright 2017 - Donald Willerton
Donald Willerton Books
Donald Willerton Blog
Site Design by Artotems Co.
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Overview
    • Novels >
      • Teddy's War
      • Smoke Dreams
      • The King of Trash
    • Mogi Franklin Mysteries >
      • 1. Ghosts of the San Juan
      • 2. The Lost Children
      • 3. The Secret of La Rosa
      • 4. The Hidden River
      • 5. The Lake of Fire
      • 6. Outlaw
      • 7. The Lady in White
      • 8. The Captains Chest
      • 9. River of Gold
      • 10. War Train
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Photo Blog
    • War Train
    • Teddy's War
    • Smoke Dreams
    • Ghosts of San Juan
    • The Lost Children
    • The Secret of La Rosa
    • The Hidden River
    • The Lake of Fire
    • Outlaw
    • The Lady in White
    • The Captain's Chest
    • River of Gold
  • Contact