Comments on: The Myth of the Tortured Writer

By: Wrong Goals ===> Disappointment & Misery | D. Thomas Minton

Wrong Goals ===> Disappointment & Misery | D. Thomas Minton — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:52:47 +0000

[...] be done. Writing shouldn’t make you miserable—I’m not a big subscriber of the tortured writer myth. If it does, I think you’re doing something wrong. Maybe it’s the goals [...]

By: Ann Sterzinger

Ann Sterzinger — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:22:22 +0000

I think this article betrays a misunderstanding of the myth as people live it… I’m a tortured writer, but writing isn’t what tortures me. I love writing. What tortures me is everything else. You don’t have to be tortured to be a writer — and if you’re a happy person it would be foolish to stick a fork in your eye or something just to “improve” your writing — but whether your glass is half full or half empty does have a direct bearing on what kind of things you produce. I don’t think Franz Kafka would have been capable of writing Chicken Soup for the Soul no matter how hard he tried… and if she decided to start writing, I seriously doubt Oprah would turn her pen to psychological horror stories.

By: Reader Feedback | Author Tips and Tricks

Reader Feedback | Author Tips and Tricks — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:04:40 +0000

[...] difficult. What someone else says about your work can send you sailing or sink your spirits. Though some writers are more fragile than others are, the feedback will surely affect you in some [...]

By: Torture, Smorture: Be Happy Already » Your Good Health

Torture, Smorture: Be Happy Already » Your Good Health — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:16:42 +0000

[...] I think The Collective Inkwell’s Sean Platt had it [...]

By: becky

becky — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:33:50 +0000

Yay Outliers!!! I love that book. I started a blog in 2001, and have been writing almost daily ever since. I calculated the time I've spent writing (taking time out for weeks I didn't write as much) and figured I've written for at LEAST 10,000 hours. Especially if I include the time I spent writing research papers during my 3 1/2 years at my first college. It took me years of writing in my blog to feel comfortable with it, years more before I felt I was "a writer." That's when I realized maybe I could actually follow my dream to be a journalist. Which is what I'm doing now. In fact, I just got my first paying job, writing for a website about my city. I think Outliers is so spot on: Until a few months ago, I'd never been taught writing formally. The reason I can write well, and the reason I love to write, is the years of practice. It may seem monotonous for someone starting out to think, "I have to do this for 10,000 hours before I'll be any good?" But when you love the writing/art/whatever, it's not monotonous, and you will be such a better writer/artist when you come out the other end. becky’s last blog post..this is america, after all. identity is our work of art.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:37:47 +0000

I LOVED Outliers! I've been wanting to write a review of that book for almost six months now. Sigh. Not enough time to write all I would love to write. Maybe someday. I agree that writing is cathartic. It was a prescription I didn't even know I needed until I started taking it. Sean’s last blog post..DAD!

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:36:36 +0000

Kool Aid - first off you are a writer. Just because it isn't your primary medium doesn't mean it's value is in any way diminished. Second, I know exactly how you feel. There is something releasing in the dance of the fingers on the keys or the roll of the pen tip across the paper. Art, for me, is far more escape than torture. Sean’s last blog post..DAD!

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:34:26 +0000

I'm constantly writing, often past midnight, but it's far from torture. I have a feeling that I would be attending to whatever my work was at those hours, regardless of my profession. Yeah, editing can be wretched. Not ever as much fun as writing. Unless it's editing Available Darkness. That's about as fun as it gets. Sean’s last blog post..DAD!

By: Kristin T. (@kt_writes)

Kristin T. (@kt_writes) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:36:04 +0000

I agree, Sean! It's writing that KEEPS me from being tortured. It also allows me to explore, dream, experiment and see things in new ways. I do believe that writing well takes a lot of dedication and pure time devoted to the practice (can you tell I'm a fan of "Outliers"?), but I certainly don't feel that the hours I spend writing are painful--even when I write about difficult things. Kristin T. (@kt_writes)’s last blog post..Tales I couldn’t tell without Facebook

By: Kool Aid

Kool Aid — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:48:47 +0000

Sean, I love how you integrate standing up for your beliefs as well as seeing others' points of view. Commendable. I don't really feel that I have a response as a writer because I still don't really consider myself one. My creativity comes out in art. I have Bachelor's in Fine Arts and would consider myself to be an artist. I was never the "tortured" artist (but often the "starving" artist). I might have been tortured by a particular assignment or get frustrated with the medium, but never was I the deep, dark, depressed artist like Pollock or Van Gogh. Even when I was going through hard times, I found solitude and sanctuary in my art. Even now, when I paint murals, I find myself giddy to have the paint glide on the walls under my touch, watching the colors blend and dance before my eyes. I can't imagine finding torture in that. Kool Aid’s last blog post..Bagging groceries, or how not to bruise my bananas