What is "Doom Eager"?

Lorrie Moore, from "Better and Sicker"
"Martha Graham speaks of the Icelandic term "doom eager" to denote that ordeal of isolation, restlessness, caughtness and artistic experiences when he or she is sick with an idea. When a writer is doom eager, the writing won't be sludge on the page; it will give readers -- and the writer, of course, is the very first reader -- an experience they've never had before, or perhaps a little and at last the words for an experience they have."

Monday, March 15, 2010

Motivation Returning

My motivation has been returning. After my last post, I worked my way through half the scene in which I had found myself stuck and planned out the rest of the scene and the next few. Later tonight, I plan to glue my behind to my office chair and push myself through to the end of the scene.

Looking back on the work I've done so far, I realized I do need to give myself a bit of credit for getting this far. I ran across a quote by Steve Martin that made me feel better:

I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.


As writers, we need to be a bit easier on ourselves when we get stuck or run up against writer's block. Writing is hard work. Writer and film editor Gene Fowler satirically stated:

Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.

I hear you, Gene.
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