My Favorite Writing Memory
When I was compared to Hemingway… in Paris…and How It All Came Crashing Down (adapted from an earlier email)
Do You Have a Favorite Writing Memory?
For years, one of my favorite activities was writing with a fountain pen in a notebook.
I have many fond memories of doing so: in coffee shops, sitting under a shady tree in a public park, or in small Paris cafês (where, on a particularly frigid January winter morning, a French gentleman approached me and said with his hand gesticulating as if it would assist his broken English, “Look at you there…you could be Hemingway, writing a bestseller!”). 😊
That’s an excellent writing memory.
Writing in a cafê in Paris is the dream of most writers.
Then, it came crashing down
No, I didn’t suffer from writer’s block (that’s just an excuse, IMO). Instead, writing with any instrument became increasingly painful and difficult.
“Erosive arthritis —it’s a non-rheumatoid but joint-degrading form of arthritis of the fingers,” my physician told me.
It subsequently necessitated a fusion of my right index finger’s DIP joint, resulting in a permanent 45-degree angle in the distalmost joint.
Add to this scenario a relatively common yet unrelated diagnosis of degenerative joint disease (DJD) in my thumbs and wrists, and I’m left with pain when holding books — especially hardbacks, jars, wide mugs, anything that requires me to grasp something wider than a few inches.
As a result, I’ve not only invested in several arthritis-friendly kitchen gadgets but writing with a pen is no longer an activity I can physically accomplish. I must now type everything on my iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard (my favorite keyboard) or on another keyboard associated with my Mac.
Gone are the days when I can enjoy the near effortless intersection of ink and paper.
That’s a not-so-good writing memory.
We all have good and not-so-good writing memories
When it comes to writers and their memories, I’m sure you have some, too.
What might they be?
To escape the cubicle and live by your creative writing?
To leave it all behind and become a nomadic travel writer?
Maybe cook through Julia Child’s "Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” as did the late Julie Powell, whose story inspired the 2009 film Julie & Julia?
Maybe you’re the next Dash Dobrofsky and are the future of political journalism. (His ‘The Gen Z Perspective’ an excellent newsletter!)
Whatever type of writing career you dream of, whether spending your days immersed in the fictional worlds you create or crafting your next cookbook, you and I have this bond in common.
This post was adapted from an earlier email. My email-only list for writers is here.