This, from the Image blog, captures some of what I was trying to say in my recent entry “New Yorker Fiction Podcast.” What Foster describes is something we should all strive for, I think.
21 August 2008
Haruki Murakami
The New Yorker published a piece (not sure if it is part of his book or separate) in their summer fiction issue by Haruki Murakami, who also has a book out called What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir. There’s also a review in the New York Times here. (It’s not a kind review, and the writer has the nerve to criticize Murakami’s musical taste and call it “blandly familiar.”) He just decided to write one day, completed a novel, sold it, and became a writer. Then he decided to run and has since run 26 marathons. Murakami makes writing and running sound easy. I think he caught on to the secret: you just have to do it. So often we make running and writing and other pursuits more complicated than they need be. Sure they involve hard work which does not guarantee success as some define it, but it’s easy to find excuses to delay starting. So if you want to run or write or sing or work in a certain field, start now.
