Just loved this. I'm currently writing an essay on my unwanted proclivities to rushing and can tell I will be citing your substack in it!! I also just bought Beth Pickens book, make your art no matter what, first chapter "Time is a hostage to the powers of perception "...
Such an interesting and thought-provoking read, thank you. And timely - I just reread Playing Beattie Bow for the first time since childhood and then moved onto Harp in the South, and was just as absorbed as I was when I first read them. I've now put Fishing with Styx on hold at the library, as well as a Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi book. Looking forward to reading them!
Hi Charlotte, Such a tonic to read and much to think about. Your posts seem to sail into my inbox at just the right time. I love Jude Rae’s 'abhorrence of relying on a single solution, of only having one set of answers to problems that will always change’. Part of the challenge creatively, especially in relation to time, is finding the way forward when you're prone to ambling down rabbit holes! I perpetually fret about wasting time but it's comforting to reframe this as you suggest. Also read with interest the Brandon Taylor link, Re Alice Munro. Insightful and spot on. Thanks so much. x
Thank you Kellie. Always glad to get your perspective ... I think we are so obsessed with productivity that we freak out at the slightest 'waste' of time. At least, that's been my way for a while now and I'm very glad to be changing tack. And yes I thought the Taylor piece said everything I needed to read about Munro. So grateful to him.
HARD RELATE! As per usual. Especially the 'turning the painting to the wall' in combination with my anxieties about not having had enough 'thick time' since I returned from Antarctica last year to work on the new novel. I had been churning about everything I wanted to do with the book but couldn't possibly actually do any real drafting of it while my whole life was about The Work. (And full of self-admonishment about all this.) Then I sat down to it in June and it just poured out. Three weeks of 'thick time' was enough to get back into the rhythm, and now I find I can still work on it even with only pockets of 'thin time'. Does it make a difference whether that lack of 'thick time' was my 'fault' or not? Who the fuck knows. I'm doing work now I couldn't have last year, because actually it needed to percolate. I hadn't thought about it in these terms but now it feels clear. And optimistic! What a gift. Thank you. xxx
Thanks Bri. 'It just poured out' is a phrase I would one day (just once!) love to be able to say. I love what you say about getting enough thick time to find the rhythm again - i think a working rhythm is so often key. So happy for you that you're back in it.
These newsletters are fast becoming a creative masterclass x
Thank you Jodi! Glad it feels useful.
Just loved this. I'm currently writing an essay on my unwanted proclivities to rushing and can tell I will be citing your substack in it!! I also just bought Beth Pickens book, make your art no matter what, first chapter "Time is a hostage to the powers of perception "...
Exactly what I needed to read exactly now. Many thanks Charlotte.
Hmmm never mind Mr Twombly, you seem to be paying attention to a great many things too Charlotte. Great piece, thank you.
Such an interesting and thought-provoking read, thank you. And timely - I just reread Playing Beattie Bow for the first time since childhood and then moved onto Harp in the South, and was just as absorbed as I was when I first read them. I've now put Fishing with Styx on hold at the library, as well as a Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi book. Looking forward to reading them!
Hi Charlotte, Such a tonic to read and much to think about. Your posts seem to sail into my inbox at just the right time. I love Jude Rae’s 'abhorrence of relying on a single solution, of only having one set of answers to problems that will always change’. Part of the challenge creatively, especially in relation to time, is finding the way forward when you're prone to ambling down rabbit holes! I perpetually fret about wasting time but it's comforting to reframe this as you suggest. Also read with interest the Brandon Taylor link, Re Alice Munro. Insightful and spot on. Thanks so much. x
Thank you Kellie. Always glad to get your perspective ... I think we are so obsessed with productivity that we freak out at the slightest 'waste' of time. At least, that's been my way for a while now and I'm very glad to be changing tack. And yes I thought the Taylor piece said everything I needed to read about Munro. So grateful to him.
HARD RELATE! As per usual. Especially the 'turning the painting to the wall' in combination with my anxieties about not having had enough 'thick time' since I returned from Antarctica last year to work on the new novel. I had been churning about everything I wanted to do with the book but couldn't possibly actually do any real drafting of it while my whole life was about The Work. (And full of self-admonishment about all this.) Then I sat down to it in June and it just poured out. Three weeks of 'thick time' was enough to get back into the rhythm, and now I find I can still work on it even with only pockets of 'thin time'. Does it make a difference whether that lack of 'thick time' was my 'fault' or not? Who the fuck knows. I'm doing work now I couldn't have last year, because actually it needed to percolate. I hadn't thought about it in these terms but now it feels clear. And optimistic! What a gift. Thank you. xxx
Thanks Bri. 'It just poured out' is a phrase I would one day (just once!) love to be able to say. I love what you say about getting enough thick time to find the rhythm again - i think a working rhythm is so often key. So happy for you that you're back in it.
Wonderful, thanks Charlotte!
Thank you dear Tracy - thinking of you a LOT. xxx