Post by mikeralls on Oct 22, 2008 13:22:02 GMT -5
One of the things I've most gained from the lifewriting course has been a sense of balance. The Work-Body-Relationship triangle has really been driven home into me, and I am greatly gladdened that I've improved all of them since I first started. I still have a long ways to go, but that's the nature of running to the horizon. 
It seems to me that often great writers can get way out of balance, and as I still do want to be a professional writer someday, I think it's useful to look at them for a sense of perspective. Hemingway would probably be the cliche on this topic, but I was wondering if anyone has any specific recommendation of a good writer who just completly messed up all the other areas of their life?
David Foster Walace, "I go through a loop in which I notice all the ways I am self-centered and careerist and not true to standards and values that transcend my own petty interests, and feel like I'm not one of the good ones. But then I countenance the fact that at least here I am worrying about it, noticing all the ways I fall short of integrity, and I imagine that maybe people without any integrity at all don't notice or worry about it; so then I feel better about myself. It's all very confusing. I think I'm very honest and candid, but I'm also proud of how honest and candid I am -- so where does that put me?"
It seems to me that often great writers can get way out of balance, and as I still do want to be a professional writer someday, I think it's useful to look at them for a sense of perspective. Hemingway would probably be the cliche on this topic, but I was wondering if anyone has any specific recommendation of a good writer who just completly messed up all the other areas of their life?
David Foster Walace, "I go through a loop in which I notice all the ways I am self-centered and careerist and not true to standards and values that transcend my own petty interests, and feel like I'm not one of the good ones. But then I countenance the fact that at least here I am worrying about it, noticing all the ways I fall short of integrity, and I imagine that maybe people without any integrity at all don't notice or worry about it; so then I feel better about myself. It's all very confusing. I think I'm very honest and candid, but I'm also proud of how honest and candid I am -- so where does that put me?"
