I don't know.
I just call it a room of his own.
Showing posts with label Virginia Woolf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virginia Woolf. Show all posts
Friday, February 15, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Happy Birthday, Virginia Woolf
My Bylines 2008 Writer’s Desk Calendar tells me today is Virginia Woolf’s birthday (1882-1941). One of my favorite Virginia Woolf quotes about the art and craft of writing:
"If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people."
Especially apt for nonfiction writers, wouldn't you say?
Then there's this Virginia Woolf idea (at the time, revolutionary) about what's necessary for a writer to create, in particular a woman writer:
“ A woman must have money and a room of her own.”
In her seminal essay, "A Room of One's Own," Woolf specified, in 1929, that “500 (British) pounds” a year was about right. That’s around $40,000 today, give or take.
Money's such a personal thing and I certainly don't have the answer to this want-to-write/have-to-earn conundrum. But I will venture to say that any way (OK, any legal, moral way) in which you can arrange your financial life so that you are able to write, Virginia would likely approve.
To the room and money requirements, I would add that a woman also needs time, and more often than not, she will have to steal it.
Go ahead. It's not a crime. Steal some time -- today, this weekend, this month.
Do you have a room of your own? A corner of a room of your own? A desk of your own? Somewhere your writing can live and breathe?
Tell me about yours.
Just finished reading: The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, by Amy Tan
"If you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people."
Especially apt for nonfiction writers, wouldn't you say?
Then there's this Virginia Woolf idea (at the time, revolutionary) about what's necessary for a writer to create, in particular a woman writer:
“ A woman must have money and a room of her own.”
In her seminal essay, "A Room of One's Own," Woolf specified, in 1929, that “500 (British) pounds” a year was about right. That’s around $40,000 today, give or take.
Money's such a personal thing and I certainly don't have the answer to this want-to-write/have-to-earn conundrum. But I will venture to say that any way (OK, any legal, moral way) in which you can arrange your financial life so that you are able to write, Virginia would likely approve.
To the room and money requirements, I would add that a woman also needs time, and more often than not, she will have to steal it.
Go ahead. It's not a crime. Steal some time -- today, this weekend, this month.
Do you have a room of your own? A corner of a room of your own? A desk of your own? Somewhere your writing can live and breathe?
Tell me about yours.
Just finished reading: The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life, by Amy Tan
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