In haruki murakami's pseudomemoir, "what I talk About When I talk About Running," he describes writing to him as an excruciatingly painful process. Writing is like a marathon. it's all about momentum, rhythm, lulling oneself into a trance, going one step at a time, misery, frustration, blocking that all out, and oh not to mention practicing practically as hard consistently. That's what writing is like for him
Other writers feel differently, I imagine, though to be honest off the top of my head I can't really think of any good examples.I think for other people it's different; I think for me, at least, it's different, though sometimes when I can't think of anything to write I think about Murakami and how miserable he presumably is every second of his writing, and I tell myself to force it just like he must. But then again, I also realize that I've never ran a marathon or really any long distance foot race so truthfully I'm not sure I actually do know the exact intricacies and nuances of what he's attempting to convey.
If I were to try to explain what writing feels like, I don't think I could deny that it feels like there's an element of "forcing it." That's probably true, though, of any creative or really any productive exercise. Writing code is the same way, or doing homework, or getting one's chores done and so on. So much of life is about that force, how you produce it, how reliably, how effective it is, etc. etc.
Murakami's daily routine is a pretty picture. As I remember it, his days would consist of eating simple meals, running, swimming (he was living in Hawaii for part of the book's narrative, Cambridge for the rest), drinking, and then hours and hours of sitting at a desk writing and revising all of which I believe were related as various places on the unhappy side of the spectrum of enjoyment. Maybe that last part isn't so pretty but I think it actually reveals something interesting, at least to me. Obviously again, not everyone is the same -- but if something resonates with you, I think there's nothing wrong with trying to take it seriously. It's got to be possible that something original, interesting, creative, and yes beautiful can come out of a process of toil and components that are largely rote and in at least in part uninteresting and painstaking. I suppose that's somewhat obvious when you think about the process by which anything worth remembering in the world has been made...but to me I think it's worth a reminder every once in a while
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiGSDywrX1Y
