Lately, I’ve been questioning how much time and energy I put into my writing. When I’m working on a book—and I’m almost always working on a book—it pretty much takes over my life. Every minute I’m not asleep—and sometimes even then—I’m thinking about my characters and what I can make happen to them. It’s embarrassing to admit, but there are probably days when I think more about these ‘imaginary friends’ than I do my real ones.
I’m all for writers taking their work seriously, but sometimes I wonder whether what I’m doing—which is really nothing more than telling stories—deserves so much attention.
I’ve always believed people need stories. They help us make sense of the world. Still, I’m not sure we need them more than we need a cure for cancer, or a solution to climate change, or even a really good dentist.
All this has me thinking about the concept of Right Livelihood. In Buddhist philosophy, Right Livelihood (along with Right Speech, Right Concentration, Right Mindfulness, Right Effort, Right Action, Right Intention, and Right Understanding) is part of what is called the Eightfold Path. A template for living in a way meant to reduce the suffering of yourself and others.
The short definition of Right Livelihood is to do work that does no harm. And when I think about story-telling in those terms, it seems a perfectly respectable (well, maybe not perfectly respectable) version of Right Livelihood.
Still, this hasn’t stopped me from wondering whether my fiction, which consumes so much of my time and energy, should be about more than doing no harm. If possibly, it should also be about doing some good.
To me, the perfect example of story-telling as Right Livelihood is ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers. ‘The Overstory’ made me think about trees in an entirely new way…which got me thinking about the environment in an entirely new way.
More than that, ‘The Overstory’ made me want to write a book that would do the same thing. Encourage people to think in a new way about something that mattered.
I’ve started writing what I hope will be that book. These days, my waking—and sometimes my sleeping—hours are filled with thoughts of CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations), and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the environmental impact of vast lagoons of pig manure…and of course, a whole new assortment of imaginary friends. Farmers and slaughterhouse workers, and anyone who has ever cooked or eaten a piece of meat.
I do worry that saying I’m writing a novel as Right Livelihood will sound preachy. I worry even more that the novel will sound that way. But writing any book is both an act of faith and a tightrope walk, and it’s too soon to tell if I will be able to pull it off. What I can say, is that I do a lot less questioning of the time and energy I’m putting into it.
Love this piece. Have really loved ALL of them. Thanks
Janis, I'm very much enjoying your Writing Zen newsletter. Lovely writing, lovely thinking. Thank you.