I’m a bit addicted to the Workspace posts on John August’s blog (I assume he’s called John August, it’s at johnaugust.com). It’s all about screenwriters, but screenwriters are writers the same as the rest of us. Plus, I rather fancy some screenwriting at some point in my writing career. This week it was Christine Boylan who of course I’ve never heard of. Worth a read though.

I can write anywhere if I can get the spirit to move me (or I have a
heart-stopping deadline) — passenger seat of cars (no motion sickness),
trains, planes (usually drunk), the middle of the jungle, etc.

I try to change locations during a long writing session to keep
myself going — this might be as simple as moving up to the kitchen and
sitting on the annoying bench that hurts my back but keeps me awake, or
it might mean just lying on the floor in some kind of weird cobra-pose
for an hour and writing there. My office has a giant wood desk that’s
more like a table than a desk.

I really liked this idea, that the amateur writes a shadow novel using their life instead of words and paper. They have a drama filled life, but don’t get the work done. How many people like this do we know. The professional, on the other hand, has stepped back from the drama and become plain. And gets work done. Or maybe is just getting old.
Writing Wednesdays: Shadow Novels

The amateur is an egotist. He takes the material of his personal pain and uses it to draw attention to himself. He creates a “life,” a “character,” a “personality.”

The artist and the professional, on the other hand, have turned a corner in their minds. They have succeeded in stepping back from themselves. They stand “at one remove.” They have grown so bored with themselves and so sick of their petty bullshit that they can manipulate those elements the way a HazMat technician handles weapons-grade plutonium.