Comments on: Finishing the Hat: A Writer's Pursuit of Loneliness http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2009/06/17/finishing-the-hat-a-writers-pursuit-of-loneliness/ Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:57:00 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Bonnie Kozek http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2009/06/17/finishing-the-hat-a-writers-pursuit-of-loneliness/comment-page-1/#comment-1960 Bonnie Kozek Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:20:59 +0000 http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/?p=2314#comment-1960 thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my article. it is great to hear that you share/understand the struggle -- which for me is a daily battle. like most things in life, there are trade-offs to being a writer. the trade-offs are not inconsequential -- while, for me, the need for them is absolutely incomprehensible. (i mean, why can't i write on monday when i know that someone is dropping off a package on tuesday?) but, i accept that in life there are many things that are incomprehensible and that perhaps we're not meant to understand all things all the time. i can live with that. congratulations on all your hard-earned successes. please do keep me posted when your work is published. i'd love to read your work. thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my article. it is
great to hear that you share/understand the struggle — which for me
is a daily battle. like most things in life, there are trade-offs to
being a writer. the trade-offs are not inconsequential — while, for
me, the need for them is absolutely incomprehensible. (i mean, why
can’t i write on monday when i know that someone is dropping off a
package on tuesday?) but, i accept that in life there are many things
that are incomprehensible and that perhaps we’re not meant to
understand all things all the time. i can live with that.

congratulations on all your hard-earned successes. please do keep me
posted when your work is published. i’d love to read your work.

]]> By: Debra Leigh Scott http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/blog/2009/06/17/finishing-the-hat-a-writers-pursuit-of-loneliness/comment-page-1/#comment-1959 Debra Leigh Scott Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:29:42 +0000 http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/?p=2314#comment-1959 "Finishing the Hat" is one of my favorite songs. In fact, the entire musical examines the life of the artist in such an honest and tender way that I find myself playing the soundtrack again and again. I saw the new production when it was in NYC and was surprised at how emotional I became; I expected to be underwhelmed because of the lack of Mandy and Bernadette. Not so. It's really true that, when you are working as an artist, especially when you are working on an extended project, the need for solitude is so extreme that non-artists simply cannot understand. They read it as rejection or avoidance. I've gone through exactly what you describe. I've left relationships when the men didn't understand my need for solitude and work. I work slowly, which makes matters worse, I think. In the last ten years, I've worked simultaneously on a collection of inter-related short stories and on a trilogy of novels. At the same time, I wrote three commissioned young adult plays, a dramatic play and roughed out several non-fiction books. That may sound like a lot. But it's only now that my short story collection, Other Likely Stories and the first of my novels, Piety Street, are in the pipeline for publication. A decade is a long time to be dedicated to a feverish level of work that doesn't have immediate or enormous consequences. So, again, to the non-artist, the amount of sacrifice we make and the amount of work we do seems pointless, self-indulgent. They don't understand the need to finish the hat. They may not even wear hats, let alone look at a representation of one! “Finishing the Hat” is one of my favorite songs. In fact, the entire musical examines the life of the artist in such an honest and tender way that I find myself playing the soundtrack again and again. I saw the new production when it was in NYC and was surprised at how emotional I became; I expected to be underwhelmed because of the lack of Mandy and Bernadette. Not so.

It’s really true that, when you are working as an artist, especially when you are working on an extended project, the need for solitude is so extreme that non-artists simply cannot understand. They read it as rejection or avoidance. I’ve gone through exactly what you describe. I’ve left relationships when the men didn’t understand my need for solitude and work.

I work slowly, which makes matters worse, I think. In the last ten years, I’ve worked simultaneously on a collection of inter-related short stories and on a trilogy of novels. At the same time, I wrote three commissioned young adult plays, a dramatic play and roughed out several non-fiction books. That may sound like a lot. But it’s only now that my short story collection, Other Likely Stories and the first of my novels, Piety Street, are in the pipeline for publication. A decade is a long time to be dedicated to a feverish level of work that doesn’t have immediate or enormous consequences.

So, again, to the non-artist, the amount of sacrifice we make and the amount of work we do seems pointless, self-indulgent. They don’t understand the need to finish the hat. They may not even wear hats, let alone look at a representation of one!

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