Few serious artists are able to live lives which are without interruption

Many people in walks of life which do not involve creation, are completely unaware of the necessity for discipline. It is not only that few serious artists who live lives of debauchery produce a large body of work, but that few serious artists are able to live lives which are without interruption. We do not shed all obligations when the children leave home. I am working on this section of this manuscript while teaching an intensive four and a half hour credit course, and neither may be skimped. Many writers work in the eveningas after a nine to five job. And there are letters to be answered, the phone which constantly calls us. I travel a lot in order to give lectures, teach at writers' conferences (though most of my destinations are not as glamourous as Cypres). To write consistently, I must seize opportunities. I write in airports. I write on planes. I find airports and planes and hotel rooms excellent places in which to write, because while I am in them I am not responsible for anything except my work. Once I have my seat assignment I can write until the flight is called; when I am on the plane, the pilot is responsible for the flight; I am not; and so I can work on my manuscript. In a hotel room I do not have to think about the vacuum cleaner (though sometimes I would like to have one); domestic chores are not my responsibility. I am free to write.

No matter where I am, at home, abroud, I begin the day with morning prayer, including the psalms for the day, so that at the end of each month I have gone through the book of Psalms. I also read from both the Old and New Testaments. And there is almost always something in the Psalms or the other Scripture which I need to hear for that day., something I may have read hundreds of times before, but which suddenly springs out at me with new meaning.

I end the day, in the same way, with evening prayer, and this gives the day a structure. Between these two joyful disciplines, the day is also moderately structured. I write all morning. Lunch is often shared with a friend. Then, most afternoons, I return to my manuscript, though if I’ve put in a hard and productive morning’s work I don’t feel bound by this.