Open Question: Can Writers Stop Writing?

24 Responses to “Open Question: Can Writers Stop Writing?”

1. kashmiri says on 10/7/08 at 9:05 am:
   

   Yes. I wrote a book in 2005 and stopped. I had this big push during my SR and then nothing as Pluto moved away from my Saturn and onto my ASC.
   That was about the time I discovered blogging, though I didn’t actually start one until 2007.

   My sister gave up art from 1992-2006. She went back to her studies, and just as quit her day job to start her own business she became pregnant.
   Life happens.

   Also, lots of people work in fits and starts. Or snits and farts.

2. max says on 10/7/08 at 9:24 am:
   

   Boy, I think that’s wrong.

   I don’t!

   People stop writing all the time.

   I have ’stopped writing’. I didn’t stay stopped. You see blogs die all the time, and people no longer publishing novels, but I don’t doubt it comes back to them no matter what. Opera tenors will sing in the shower if nowhere else.

   In Heinlein’s stuff, he talks about the time he told John Campbell that he really really didn’t want to write; he had just gotten into the business to pay off the mortgage. So he told Campbell that if Campbell rejected anything RAH wrote, RAH would hang it up. Campbell bounced ‘Logic of Empire’ (I think), and RAH dutifully quit. Considered himself retired and started working on the masonry in the garden. Then he started feeling ill and thought he was coming down with TB again. After about eight, nine months, he decided to write something because he wasn’t feeling up to anything else, and lo and behold, he started feeling way better.

   Hopeless case, doncha know. Given your um, proclivities, I have got you pegged as, er, incurable.

   max
   [’Now you’re gonna get mad at me.’]

3. spidermoon says on 10/7/08 at 9:30 am:
   

   My first thought: perhaps a word to explore here is “storyteller.” Is the definition of a writer and a storyteller the same? Storytellers spin their web of words either on air [conversation] or on paper (or both). Great storytellers work with the narrative arc; they have a flair for the dramatic mixed with sensitivity and a desire to make sense of the world, coupled with a desire for response/sharing. Of course, writers can stop writing. (Grief made me stop writing for months this year; I couldn’t string a coherent thought together.) For me, other creative expression (cooking and sex in particular) fuels my writing energy…but it is always the writing I come back to [especially after an energetic romp with a lover]. Maybe this always coming back to writing is related to a heavy emphasis of Cardinal and Fixed in my chart. My basic credo (and there are always exceptions, naturally) is that writers write. We may go through fallow field periods, but we come back to it, because, as Kierkegaard said, “Only when I write do I feel well.” I agree that it is all creative energy, and sometimes we pigeonhole ourselves by not trying something new, creatively speaking. Recently I read that Picasso started writing poetry in his mid-50’s. How cool is that?

4. omie says on 10/7/08 at 9:40 am:
   

   Yup. You know me a little Elsa, you said my chart just screams writer. I am and I do, but I also stop and use the energy in other ways.

   I’ll really miss you if you stop blogging, but you will do what is exactly right for you, and that is as it should be!

5. Elsa says on 10/7/08 at 9:56 am:
   

   [’Now you’re gonna get mad at me.’]

   no, max. I just disagree with you like I said. I disagree with people all the time, I have Libra!

6. maureen says on 10/7/08 at 9:58 am:
   

   I’m so aware lately of beginnings and endings, and the place in between when it has yet to go one way or another. In the in-between space, when I contemplate an ending about anything I’ve infused with my blood, sweat, tears and passion, I feel the tug. I can’t imagine who I am without that thing or person or passion. Elsa, maybe we’re doing a lot of projection, when we say you won’t stop writing..

   I read something recently about Pluto asking us to define what we’re really passionate about, and to live accordingly. Anything less falls away. It was such a benevolent take on Pluto.. I felt relieved and less fearful. I’m not sure why I mention it here, except we’re all entering a new Pluto era together. I’m doing a lot of soul-searching about relationships, career, etc. The “not-knowing” stage is really something, and not entirely comfortable for my Libra rising.

7. Elsa says on 10/7/08 at 10:13 am:
   

   “Elsa, maybe we’re doing a lot of projection, when we say you won’t stop writing.. ”

   I guarantee you this is the case. All my life people have made this mistake, I could sit here and list 10 or 20 examples right off the top of my head.

   And it’s not mysterious at least not to me. Thing is, I explain it in plain language and no one understands so I just have to conclude they don’t want to understand and eventually the lack of understanding is shown to be irrelevant.

   it is hard to explain on this blog… to newcomers I mean, but the people who have been reading me 5 years or more really ought to be able to compute this.

   Er, take the AMF. Am I with the AMF?

   I rest my case.

   Every job I have ever had people thought I would never leave and I have left every job I have ever had so what the fuck?

   I don;t know why people think the things they do but I do know there is no sense arguing with them and hence this piece where people can say what they think! It’s not meant to be a debate. I have already stated my situation… my feelings and as generally the case (99.5% of the time) I have stated them accurately and from here the day goes on.

   I told you (posted about this) a few weeks ago. I said things were going to change and I was hardly kidding. The astrology is dramatic. How can people think Pluto is going to change signs and… nothing?

8. Elsa says on 10/7/08 at 10:21 am:
   

   Er… of anyone is confused and wants to un-confuse, go back and read what I wrote. I said I no longer felt compelled to write. I also said (if you read between the lines) that I no longer felt obligated. I no longer feel writing is something I SHOULD be doing for whatever reasons. I have written for years for a variety of reasons and here at the end of Pluto through Sadge, I don’t see them any more. It’s a void. It’s a void like my (killed) hopes and wishes and dreams. I don’t have new hopes and wishes and dreams.

   And people want to give me some hopes and wishes and dreams but it doesn;t work that way because I have integrity. I have been running my life since I was 8 years old. I have been completely on my own since I was 15 and now I need someone to tell me what’s best for me? That can’t be right.

9. maureen says on 10/7/08 at 10:29 am:
   

   I totally relate Elsa. About not feeling compelled and/or obligated anymore, and recognizing the void.

10. goddess says on 10/7/08 at 10:56 am:
    

    eh. i’ve heard the idea that “real” writers cannot stop writing, nor real artists stop creating art or whatever. i don’t buy it. i would guess some folks always feel the compulsion, but not everyone who has gifts always expresses them the same way throughout their lives.

    i remember a long, long time ago you had said something like you originally took up writing to let your kids know who you were when they grew up, to tell your stories. the book in particular seemed linked to your daughter, and i also guessed it’s publication would somehow be connected as well. it may not be of course, but it is just another type of pregnancy.

    i will appreciate and enjoy your writing as long as you choose to do it, and wish you well in whatever you choose to replace it with, whenever that happens. you’ve already given me a staggering number of insights and perspective from putting out so much potent energy over the years, for which i’m inordinately grateful.

11. Elsa says on 10/7/08 at 11:09 am:
    

    “you’ve already given me a staggering number of insights and perspective from putting out so much potent energy over the years, for which i’m inordinately grateful.”

    Thank you, goddess and yes my kids had a lot to do with all this writing and my job on that front is done. I have written more than they will ever care to read. It is computerized and therefore searchable, what more do you want?

    I am sure with proper editing, there is plenty here that could be sold… I have written several movies I’d say and God knows what someone else could make of all this, it’s not something I care to think about.

    I feel comfortable to say I have created a legacy and as an aside I have also recorded the soldier extensively.

    This is meant to be a gift for his son who I have told explicitly if we are killed… he should search out my hard drive as everything he could ever want to know about his father is on it.

    It’s been an epic job. “Staggering” is the right word.

    To say you’ve enjoyed it is nice. To say I’ve enjoyed it is probably a projection.

    I have done what I felt I was supposed to do and now I have no feeling other than I should maintain the astro dispatch at all costs. My heart is in that thing, I don’t know what else to say.

12. Jessica says on 10/7/08 at 11:33 am:
    

    This is really inspiring.

13. Jilly says on 10/7/08 at 12:36 pm:
    

    Yeah - just ask Harper Lee LOL.

14. Elsa says on 10/7/08 at 12:46 pm:
    

    Yes! Harper Lee and look how cute she is:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lee_medal_of_freedom.jpg

    No regrets there!

15. Shannon says on 10/7/08 at 2:19 pm:
    

    I love that picture!

    I think very few people do one thing forever and forever … ultimately, you gotta do what you gotta do, and I don’t see how anyone can fault you for that.

    I have immensely enjoyed all of your writing that I’ve read, and if you keep writing I’ll keep reading. If you don’t … I’ll keep following what’s available to follow. Oh, like the astro dispatch for one example. *smile*

    This makes me think of Paul Newman, you know. Sure he was an actor but he was a philanthropist and so many other things - anyone who limits it to “Paul Newman, the actor” has totally missed the point.

    Much like anyone who says “Elsa P, the writer.” Though I do prefer storyteller, cuz you got that going in spades. And it’s still not the whole picture by a long shot.

16. Ariel says on 10/7/08 at 2:24 pm:
    

    I understand. And I would miss not reading you (having cyber-stalked you for several years now). But I understand. I wrote and wrote for years, and then I stopped completely. I barely write e-mails anymore, or even coherent grocery lists. It drives a few people I know crazy, for some reason. They keep trying to “trick” or cajole me into writing something again. Which feels insulting. I have no drive to write anymore. That’s simply the way it is. I may feel it again someday, but telling me I’m “wasting my gift” doesn’t make me feel compelled.

17. L.C. says on 10/7/08 at 2:44 pm:
    

    I understand and can relate about channelling the energies through some other means… elsewhere… wherever. Or even being in the void before incubating something new and finding a different means of expression for the time.

18. wyrdling says on 10/7/08 at 4:37 pm:
    

    i think people stop and start many things as they’re compelled to.

19. june says on 10/7/08 at 6:25 pm:
    

    To the question, yep. I’ve been expressive/creative all of my life, but I’ve stopped writing before. It’s just a matter of mode of expression, what’s appropriate given the needs of the moment and what’s available. I’ve written online for ages, too, but every year or two the style changes. It looks like I altogether stop if I focus on any one thing.

20. Kris says on 10/7/08 at 8:11 pm:
    

    I am enjoying AstroDispatch, and I’m very thankful for it because since my I escaped the cage I put myself in it is beginning to click in ways it never has before.

    A lot of that is due to the way you tell it, Elsa. You make it relate to real life in a way I’ve not seen other astrologers do. Because of that, I cannot say I won’t miss reading *you*. I can and will say that you have had a huge impact on my life in ways you cannot imagine; you have often been a beacon to me, even in your dark times, when my entire world was black and miserable as well. I understand the need to make changes to one’s life, but I will miss your words even as I wish you wings to wherever your heart leads you next.

21. althera says on 10/7/08 at 9:04 pm:
    

    I wonder … it is time to stop writing, or time to evolve? Just the inspiration that came to me - something more than one person has said lately (not an uncommon quote) - “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.

    I do not mean this in any way to project on your expectations. Only wondering if maybe it is time for a new vision. And to live out a new vision, you may need to do new things.

    I guess - maybe looking at the new beginning that could hinge on the tail of an end.

22. SaDiablo says on 10/8/08 at 3:02 am:
    

    I will miss you when/if you leave, Lucille. (As in “you picked a fine time…” ) I don’t know of anyone else out there who can explain astrology the way you do and give me those “Aha!” moments so frequently. It’s been a fun ride, and I hate for it to end — but everything has to at some time, right? <3 You do what you have to. I’ll love ya just the same. Deal?

23. eva says on 10/8/08 at 10:13 am:
    

    Hi Elsa:

    I haven’t seen your chart, but my chart has a lot of writing signatures too. I have gone through periods where that was all I did. I have also just gotten tired of the whole business and quit for years, and then sort of ended up doing it again. At some point sitting in a room typing away was no longer appropriate for my life and I had to get out there, and out of my head.

    Writing is tiring. Writers spend so much time alone. Also, writing is deeply revealing. If you are writing it’s like you’re the only one in the room who happens to be naked. You’re vulnerable and this can be traumatic especially if you’re not used to it. At the dawn of the internet I used to post storylines and fiction to small writing groups and then I would find out that somebody else was using my stuff, my ideas or my plotlines or my dialogue and I would feel totally violated. Or I’d get flamed and spend hours tearfully defending myself to strangers.

    Takes a lot out of you, all that. Sometimes you just want a job, maybe a lunch hour and some coworkers to trade recipes with.

    Talent in a chart can be expressed all kinds of different ways, you know that. If you stop writing, you’ll probably end up doing something else that is just as compelling or satisfying to you to express that talent.

    Anyway, you can stop. You can also start again. I’s not that big a deal, you’ll always be you, doing what you do. It’s your life.

24. Deirdre says on 10/8/08 at 11:21 am:
    

    I used to think I would only be a graphic designer, nothing else at all. I just wanted one career and I didn’t even want to meddle in illustration. That was the high tech 80’s and new wave, hard lines were cool. That I would be also an illustrator seemed far-fetched — and an astrologer too? You must be kidding. WHAT? AND BLOGGING? and writing, it was all unfathomable.

    When I moved from Boston to Hamburg in 1995, I tried to stop being an astrologer. I put all my books on my front yard and when I landed in Germany it was my big secret that I did astrology. I wanted to just be a graphic designer again, nothing else. haha. Astrology came back with a wallop and a whoosh.

    This is my Neptune stationary at the Midheaven. Basically I am Niagara Falls and my calling is to harness the power from my creativity. Yeah, as a Capricorn ascendant with Saturn conjunct I was born at work.

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