Ethan G. Salwen

“Of course, the writer’s task is to put obstacles in the way of writing, and yet writing still somehow always has gotten done, whether through fogs of Scotch or through fields of pixels.”   – Adam Gopnik

Adam Gopnik (Richard Avedon)

I just came across this while bumping around on the Web, avoiding the task of getting down to the writing that I really need to be doing (as in, to make money). The quote is from “Stray Questions for: Adam Gopnik” by Blake Wilson, published in “Paper Cuts” on January 30, 2009.

If what Gopnik says is true, maybe I’m actually doing well as a writer and not the flailing failure I often feel like. After all, who can do better than I at putting obstacles in the way of writing?

In response to Wilson’s question about how much time — if any — Gopnik spends on the Web, Gopnik shares:

“Too much, too much. Writing is the process of finding something to distract you from writing, and of all the helpful distractions — adultery, alcohol and acedia, all of which aided our writing fathers — none can equal the Internet.”

Fuck! I mean, on the one hand I really appreciate Gopnik’s frank perspective that he struggles with the crack-like addictive power of the Web. On the other hand, his observation makes me feel like I’ve been backsliding.

Of late I have been doing my damnedest to improve my writing by cutting down on adultery, alcohol and acedia. (The excessive adultery brought on by binge drinking might have been interesting to write about but the acedia made it impossible.) And now, actually finding myself trying to work instead of heading to a bar (not easy, I assure you), Gopnik’s words suggest I might actually be better off in that bar buying a drink for a potential lover. Apparently the fog of adultery and booze is easier to write through than these fields of pixels.