Thursday Thoughts...

“Anybody who writes a book is an optimist. First of all, they think they’re going to finish it. Second, they think somebody’s going to publish it. Third they think somebody’s going to read it. Fourth. they think somebody’s going to like it. How optimistic is that?” 

Margaret Atwood

I loved this so much when I read it! Writing a book sounds like climbing a mountain when you put it like that, and I am grateful that so many folk have attempted to summit.

As I read through the quote I imagine she has made the process more succinct than it really is, however the four pithy stages are enough for me to realise how ambitious and optimistic it really is.

I like the idea that the folk who provide me so much enjoyment, are optimists. They aren't all negative nellies or pessimists; they have to have some sense of optimism within them to even embark on the project of writing a book.

I had never stopped to think of this way of characterising writers. So often we think of them as anguished or tortured as they struggle to get the perfect sentence; to write so many words; to edit them down. It all seems such a difficult process whenever I think of it, and yet here is one of the best writers around re-shaping the process in my mind. I love it.