Here's a quote from the New Yorker magazine, May 22, 2006 (yes, I'm way behind in reading as well as writing):
Soyinka ... reveals that, after winning the Nobel Prize, he came down with writer's bock, "overwhelmed by the futility of everything I had ever done."
That's Wole Soyinka, people, the Nigerian playwright and activist. After he won his Nobel prize, he felt too futile to write. What the... WHAT IS WRONG WITH WRITERS? Do we ALL hate ourselves? And if he feels futile, what the eff am I doing with my fingers on a keyboard?
GAH!!!
2 comments:
Any artist in any medium is going to be extremely self-critical. I think that the key, as with all things in life, is balance. Woley seems to be at the extreme, and that is very unfortunate. I don't like the term "writer's block." Creative juices can't flow 24/7; be a little more forgiving, Woley, and remember that its a process that can take TIME! :)
Ms. A Week from Today is right. I do think that anyone who considers themselves serious about their art runs into this very wall...a mixture of being overwhelmed and feeling unable to meet whatever criteria we've set up for ourselves.
So, yeah, it's human, but it does nothing for those of us who respect and admire folks like Soyinka.
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