a good creature interview with writer Sarah Wheeler about treating her ADHD like another dependent, keeping a rejection leaderboard, and paying attention to the conditions that support your creativity
I love this! “It can be enough just to pay attention to the conditions that support your creativity, and try to move towards more of them happening more of the time.”
I had thought that going freelance, I would finally have oodles of time and writing would come easy. But I’m finding that more time doesn’t automatically equal more writing. This has me thinking about the necessary conditions, like a good night’s sleep and going for a walk rather than simply staring at a blank page.
ooh yes -- so many of the "necessary conditions" aren't about just what you're doing when you're actually writing, right? but what are the things you need as a person so that you have space (and mental space!) to write? you make such a good point!
"But I think that recognizing that part of myself was something I felt more pressed to do in order to show up better for my children, and then I understood how meaningful it was for showing up for myself."
I get this so hard. I've written for most of my life and then to see Oh, wait, I still want a part for myself amongst the tiny goblin's needs made me dive back in to my own needs.
This was a great interview! Thanks so much for sharing, Nancy and Sarah. I also had to go back and read the older article about Emily Oster linked in the beginning. After reading Expecting Better, I got halfway through Cribsheet and couldn't finish it. I wasn't completely sure why but I think Sarah's piece hits the nail on the head. Research has its place, sure. But it isn't the end-all, be-all, especially when it comes to raising children. Everyone's reality is so variable and we really just have to do our best and learn to follow our intuition. I've really had to tune out a lot of the social media parenting experts since becoming a mom in order to save my mental health. Thanks again for this, such a great read!
The Oster piece is so, so great! And I agree--I think Expecting Better is really helpful, but I think there's a limit to the value of data once the baby's actually been born, and what I love about Sarah's piece is her argument about how individualistic and competitive Oster's approach is--like, you're trying to optimize everything about your kid's life, rather than thinking about what would help all the kids in your community. Sarah is really so smart and so funny!
I love this! “It can be enough just to pay attention to the conditions that support your creativity, and try to move towards more of them happening more of the time.”
I had thought that going freelance, I would finally have oodles of time and writing would come easy. But I’m finding that more time doesn’t automatically equal more writing. This has me thinking about the necessary conditions, like a good night’s sleep and going for a walk rather than simply staring at a blank page.
ooh yes -- so many of the "necessary conditions" aren't about just what you're doing when you're actually writing, right? but what are the things you need as a person so that you have space (and mental space!) to write? you make such a good point!
"But I think that recognizing that part of myself was something I felt more pressed to do in order to show up better for my children, and then I understood how meaningful it was for showing up for myself."
I get this so hard. I've written for most of my life and then to see Oh, wait, I still want a part for myself amongst the tiny goblin's needs made me dive back in to my own needs.
I love the way you've put this! ;)
This was a great interview! Thanks so much for sharing, Nancy and Sarah. I also had to go back and read the older article about Emily Oster linked in the beginning. After reading Expecting Better, I got halfway through Cribsheet and couldn't finish it. I wasn't completely sure why but I think Sarah's piece hits the nail on the head. Research has its place, sure. But it isn't the end-all, be-all, especially when it comes to raising children. Everyone's reality is so variable and we really just have to do our best and learn to follow our intuition. I've really had to tune out a lot of the social media parenting experts since becoming a mom in order to save my mental health. Thanks again for this, such a great read!
The Oster piece is so, so great! And I agree--I think Expecting Better is really helpful, but I think there's a limit to the value of data once the baby's actually been born, and what I love about Sarah's piece is her argument about how individualistic and competitive Oster's approach is--like, you're trying to optimize everything about your kid's life, rather than thinking about what would help all the kids in your community. Sarah is really so smart and so funny!