Erika Dreifus

During the past week, an item from The New Yorker‘s “Page Turner” blog lit up the writerly Internet. Everywhere I looked, it seemed that people were admiring, sharing, and otherwise recommending Roxana Robinson’s “How I Get to Write,” which details the routine that the author follows to bridge that gap each morning between awakening and reaching the moment when she “start[s] in, tapping at the keyboard.”

But in some venues–a listserv for freelance writers, a Facebook discussion–I noticed that a few people were commenting that Robinson’s routine, while idyllic, sounded highly impractical. Some noted that their partners wouldn’t be as accommodating as Robinson’s husband is to the habit of “avoid[ing] conversation.” Others observed that while Robinson can focus on simply preparing her own morning coffee, many other people have children (and even pets) to feed and prepare for the day. For my part, I was acutely conscious of the absence of any mention of a need to leave the house and commute to a 9-5 job where writing fiction certainly wasn’t part of the position description.

To be sure, Robinson wasn’t necessarily prescribing a routine that the rest of us writers can (or should) follow. At some point, I think, we all realize that we need to find our own paths, even if others’ examples may prove to be illustrative. Personally, I appreciate knowing about others’ paths–sometimes. I’m simply not that interested in “how I write” accounts from those who seem to have few obligations beyond their own pages, or who are blessed with reliably ample chunks of time to structure as they choose more days of the week than not (yes, I’m talking to you, professors who teach one or two workshops each semester, and whose own writing, moreover, is considered part of the research/scholarship component of your college or university appointment).

Much for instructive, for me, is a piece like another one I read this past week. (more…)