The Sigla Blog

I thought Patry might get a laugh out of this piece by Garrison Keillor on Salon in which he tells writers to stop moaning about the anguish and torture of being a scribbler. As someone who moans about not getting enough time to write, this made me chuckle:

“OK, let me say this once and get it off my chest and never mention it again. I have had it with writers who talk about how painful and harrowing and exhausting and almost impossible it is for them to put words on paper and how they pace a hole in the carpet, anguish writ large on their marshmallow faces, and feel lucky to have written an entire sentence or two by the end of the day.

It’s the purest form of arrogance: Lest you don’t notice what a brilliant artist I am, let me tell you how I agonize over my work. To which I say: Get a job. Try teaching eighth-grade English, five classes a day, 35 kids in a class, from September to June, and then tell us about suffering.”

Keillor’s radio show A Prairie Home Companion, is listened to by over 4 million listeners every week and broadcasts on more than 580 public radio stations. Years ago, I signed up to his daily newsletter, which includes the Writer’s Almanac.. It details what each day represents in arts, culture and politics with background information, quotes, etc. (did you know today is the birthday of philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and Karl Marx?). Highly recommended.