No Party Line.

On Living Well.

One of the more important books on writing, so I’ve learned, is On Writing Well by William Zinsser. It is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Zinsser addresses the fear of failure with a wonderful story from poet Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg was asked if there was a moment when he made the decision to write. He responded,

It wasn’t a choice — it was a realization. I was 28, and I had a job as a market researcher. One day I told my psychiatrist that what I really wanted to do was to quit my job and just write poetry. And the psychiatrist said, “Why not?” And I said, “What would the American Psychoanalytical Association say?” And he said, “There’s no party line.” So I did.

There is no party line about doing what you’re meant to do. The best figure out how to do it.

Living is the trick.

Zinsser follows up that thought with this,

We’ll never know how big a loss that was for the field of market research. But it was a big moment for poetry. There’s no party line: good advice for writers. You can be your own party line. Red Smith, delivering a eulogy at the funeral of a fellow sportswriter, said, “Dying is no big deal. Living is the trick.”

I’m not sure which is more profound. Living with your own party line or simply living.

You can’t have a party line until you choose to live.

I’m choosing to live. I’m doing something I feel called to do. I’m doing it as well as I can. I’m striving to do even better.

Are you choosing to live? That’s the trick.