An Honest Day in the Life of a Writer

The wonderful Morgan Lloyd Malcolm has a substack series called An Honest Day in the Life of a Writer, in which writers of all kinds talk as honestly as they can about how they write. I was delighted when she invited me to contribute and here’s what I wrote:

• https://morganlloydmalcolm222576.substack.com/p/an-honest-day-in-the-life-of-a-writer-152

Reading back over it before I pressed send I worried a little that it sounded so upbeat that people might think it was dishonest. But the truth is, I really really enjoy writing. I’m not saying it isn’t hard work, but I do very much enjoy the process of getting a play from idea to final draft and while there are pressures and moments at which I worry that it’s basically impossible it’s always creative and interesting. I think it’s a really good thing if a writer retains enough distance on their work to find their own creativity interesting.

I imagine that if I were a very famous writer, writing a new play would be much more daunting because you’re so aware of people wondering whether you can top what you did last time and some maybe trying to take you down a peg or two. I’m relatively free from that worry.

Anyway, I hope it’s a helpful insight that others might take some comfort or advice from.