Quotations 4: A Cheeky Thought

 “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”

George Orwell said this - the author of the allegorical novel Animal Farm, the spooky study of dystopia entitled 1984, and many papers and essays.  He studied the poverty in Paris and London, questioned politics and poor education, and described his own experiences as a soldier fighting in the Spanish Civil War.  In his book Why I Write, he said that he wrote because he wanted to expose lies and draw attention to particular facts that need a hearing. 

Now, this might be a very unpopular opinion, but I kinda see a connection between these topics and this quotation.  It is hard not to find describing war wounds, dying children, evil totalitarianism and personal trauma ‘a horrible, exhausting struggle’.  Could that be the reason why he found it so difficult?  If he had attempted to write about something joyful and creative, would that too have felt like surviving a painful illness?

Perhaps it would.  Perhaps it was the process of writing that was so difficult for Orwell.  Perhaps it was the strain of taking great ideas and confining them to paper.  And perhaps finding it so painful is a requirement for writing classic literature - literature that is considered ‘important’.

Which is why I feel obliged to point out that writing murder mysteries is fun.  No demons drive these stories…just villains and rogues who always get their comeuppance.  I feel empowered, creative, amused, intrigued and sometimes delightfully spooked.  And while my books will never be important, they will hopefully make readers feel the same way.