on Murakami, sketching & authentic connections
When I am grappling with writer's block, I pursue the simplest of all ideas: miscellaneous thoughts, introspections, and snippets of my days. Somehow, these blogposts are akin to entries in a commonplace notebook.
This morning, I finished Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. As a running novelist, Murakami explores his highly-disciplined running regimen (six miles a day, six days a week), as well as his participation in annual marathons and several triathlons.
What struck me most wasn't the running itself - I myself am not a runner - but his usage of running as a metaphor for the writing process. He drew a powerful parallel between physical endurance and the creative discipline. I think this excerpt about consistent, focused writing will resonate to most of us on Bear:
. . .focus and endurance are different from talent, since they can be acquired and sharpened through training. You’ll naturally learn both concentration and endurance when you sit down every day at your desk and train yourself to focus on one point. . .gradually you’ll expand the limits of what you’re able to do. . . This involves the same process as jogging every day to strengthen your muscles and develop a runner’s physique. Add a stimulus and keep it up. And repeat. Patience is a must in this process, but. . . results will come.
Most of what I know about writing I’ve learned through running every day. These are practical, physical lessons. How much can I push myself? How much rest is appropriate—and how much is too much? How far can I take something and still keep it decent and consistent?
I didn't expect to take away so much from a memoir about running, so I am delighted. Anyway, I have been easing myself into sketching again. There really is a common thread between writing and drawing: muscle memory. The more I practice, the more fluidly the charcoal moves across paper, the more smoothly words flow when I write. Here's a recent (unfinished) sketchbook spread:
Next week is full of plans - I will be meeting up with old friends, people I haven't seen in months, years. I am forcingly pushing myself to reconnect, and honestly, it's been doing wonders for my depression. Still, I am a little tensed. Will things be different? Will the time apart make everything awkward? I ask myself: How do I re-build authentic connections with people I knew, based on who we are now, not who we used to be?
I guess I will find out next week.