The Writing Fairy

On the way home in the train tonight, I enjoyed reading Catherine Deveny’s piece about writing in ‘The Age’:

“…many promise themselves this will be the year they write that book. Again. What’s stopping you? You say you want to write but you don’t. Yet you say you want to go to the pub, go shopping or watch telly and you do.

“Do you really want to write? Or do you just want to wake up with a novel written by you on your pillow. I’ve been a professional writer for almost 20 years and I hate to tell you but never once have I or anyone I know woken up with a chapter, a column or 10 pages of neatly typed red-hot one-liners on their pillow.”

That's the Writing Fairy scenario – that if you wish for it hard enough, if you're a really nice person and you go to bed dreaming the dream, poof! Tinkerbell's more literary sister will take care of it all for you, and that mess in your head will magically appear the next morning on your desk all neatly formatted and ready to send off to the publisher.

Then there's the real world.

Catherine Deveny again : “More than being paid or published, winning the battle with procrastination is the biggest triumph for writers.”