How Great Writers Become Great
+ 2024 Q1 Update
It has occurred to me recently that many of the great works of literature were not written by uniquely brilliant men, or men with a direct line to the muses, but by men with the time, space, and dedication required to simply write.
This is not to say that works like Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason or T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland are not works of genius. They are, truly, and could not have been produced by just anyone. But between this sentence and the last, I noticed a stack of dirty dishes that needed cleaning, had a 7-month-old start screaming in my ear, and then drove my partner to pick up her car from the mechanic. For me, the time between starting a new essay and being distracted from it can usually be counted in minutes. As for Kant and Eliot, neither ever had children; Kant never even married, and Vivienne Eliot’s ill-health meant that she was often away from her husband for extended periods of time. The result was that both men were able to dedicate substantial periods of their time to just thinking, reading, and writing, and it seems that many of history’s other great minds found themselves in a similar position.
To be clear, this is not a complaint. I love my life and my family, and would not trade what I have for anything. But there was a time in my life where I did have this kind of time, and now that I no longer do, I find myself wishing I had done more with it. I always knew I wanted to be a writer, so with all the time in the world in my hands, I am sure I could have pumped out a novel or two.
Of course, this is easy enough to say in hindsight. But what could a 20-year-old guy in university have to write about? What depth of experience did I have to draw upon? Very little—and this is one of the fundamental problems faced by the contemporary man of letters. As young men we have time in abundance, but lack the knowledge and wisdom required to write anything of substance. Older men, having established careers and families, have valuable knowledge to share, but no time in which to share it.
What is the solution? Honestly, I am still searching for one. In the abstract, I suppose it comes down to establishing a regular routine, finding the right balance between work, family, and leisure, but a clear picture of what this looks like in practice still eludes me. One thing I am sure of is that it is important to maintain one’s priorities. Many of history’s great figures were able to become great, in part, by neglecting their other obligations—did you know that Socrates had a wife and children?—and this is something that I refuse to do. Family comes before work, and work before leisure.
What if the externalities cannot be changed? I have my reservations about Stoicism as a life-governing philosophy, but it is in these moments that the Stoics’ core doctrine, the Dichotomy of Control, is most useful. I need to focus less on the negative aspects of what is outside of my control, and focus more on what is within my control, namely, my own thoughts and actions. I can choose to expect less of myself, or more of myself, as needed. I can choose to forgive my past laziness, and I can choose to let go of my frustration when things do not go to plan. In the end, it is my choice alone to either swim against the current of life or go with it.
We all have this choice. The Great Men of history chose to assert themselves on reality, and in so doing, changed it; but in many cases, their personal relationships suffered for it. They placed the pursuit of greatness above the care of those around them. For me, family comes before leisure and glory, so if my writing is to remain a hobby, I need to accept that there will be limits to what I can achieve. This may mean that I will never become a Great Man—but I can be a good one, and to the people I care about, this is far more important.
“Whoever yields properly to Fate, is deemed
Wise among men, and knows the laws of heaven."
- Euripides
2024 Goal Progress
Substack
Mind & Mythos
2024 goals: monthly Essay Club posts, quarterly updates, and semi-regular essays on all the topics usually covered by M&M.
First of all, a note of celebration—Mind & Mythos has just passed 500 subscribers! A big thank you to all who have subscribed so far.
I’ve decided to make a few changes to the schedule of M&M posts. My update posts will now be posted quarterly (every three months—this is the first for 2024), and Essay Club posts are now monthly. I’m hoping this will give me enough time to write more original pieces on topics like psychology, mythology, and philosophy, which is what I originally had in mind for this Substack.
Looking back, the past three months have actually been quite productive. I’ve posted a number of Essay Clubs (Myth, History, and Pagan Origins; Fragments From an Education; The Death of the Author; In Praise of the Gods) and discussing these essays with all of you has become one of the great joys of running M&M. I also published a piece on Conway and Pleydell-Pearce’s Self-Memory System, which was written more for my own clarity of thought than for anyone else’s sake—but I hope some of you found it interesting and/or informative.
The Stories We Tell remains a work in progress, but one that is now much further along than it was. It’s standing in the way of me completing a bunch of other interesting essays, so I need to prioritise this and get it finished.
Currently working on:
The Stories We Tell #1: 50% complete
Essay Club: Cryptocracy: 15% complete
Various others: 5-10%
Mythopoetics
In January I started a new Substack: Mythopoetics. For those who don’t already know, over the past year-and-a-half-ish I’ve developed a keen interest in poetry. Mythopoetics is a place for me to publish my own original poetry, as well as essays on various aspects of the craft of poetry writing. If you want to know the difference between a couplet and a sonnet, learn how to rhyme words, alliterate sounds, or iamb an iamb(?), subscribe to Mythopoetics.
I’ve published five poems so far, and intend to continue publishing at a rate of approximately one poem per month. A Simulated Pleasure seems to be the crowd favourite right now—check it out if you’re interested in this sort of thing.
Songs of Sarenthé
It’s been a while since I last posted to my fantasy fiction + poetry ‘Stack, Songs of Sarenthé. My mind has been on other things, and to be honest, I don’t want to force it. I do intend to write more fiction and fantasy poetry, but it’s not a priority right now. Sorry if you’re a fan of this stuff!
Current works in progress:
Selora #1: 15% complete
Frayn and Whispertip #2: 10% complete.
‘Research notes’ #1: 50%
Reading
2024 goal: Familiarise myself with the Arthurian legends and develop an understanding of their mythological and psychological significance.
I mentioned in the last update that I’ll be taking a very different approach to reading in 2024. I want to read with a purpose—my main goal is to learn more about the Arthurian legends and their psychological significance, but I also want to learn more about the craft of poetry writing. I’ve also recently joined a classic book club, so will be reading one classic work each month for this. This is a lot of reading, but it seems to be working out so far.
The Arthur stuff has been fascinating. They’re great stories in their own right, but the use of symbolism and allegory in the Arthurian romances really encourages further reflection on the various themes presented in these tales. I intend to write more about these stories from a psychological perspective, so keep an eye out for this, but a particular highlight for me was Tennyson’s interpretation of the Grail sequence. Tennyson presents King Arthur as being somewhat opposed to the Grail quest—having not received a vision of the Grail himself, and being an earthly king of a dying realm, Arthur chastises his knights for abandoning their commitments to the kingdom. I found myself reflecting on the nature of duty—what are we sacrificing when we pursue lofty ideals? What takes priority when destiny calls? Is it right to neglect one’s earthly duties in favour of spiritual pursuits?
Current books:
Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls: 38/490
Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return: 76/162
Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances: 60/497
Joseph Campbell, Romance of the Grail: 95/233
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations: 74/170 pages read.
Numa de Coulanges, The Ancient City: 70/323 pages read.
Completed:
Alfred Lord Tennyson, Idylls of the King
J. R. R. Tolkien (translator), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Albert Camus, The Stranger
John Whitworth, Writing Poetry
Exercise
Swimming is great. I’ve been really enjoying my time at the pool, and although I’m only averaging about 1-2 sessions per week at the moment, I can feel myself slowly getting faster and stronger. I’m now swimming for longer without coming up for air, and getting further into laps without needing to take breaks. Good stuff.
I also recently starting cycling to work a couple of days per week. I want to do this as often as I can, but this will depend heavily upon what’s going each day family-wise, so I can’t really set a regular schedule at the moment.
Overall, my current ‘exercise regime’ is a patchy thing, but it’s working. Watch this space.
Poetry
2024 goal: Improve my poetry writing, and publish at least one poem per month.
Over the past few months I’ve published several poems (some old, some new) on my new Substack Mythopoetics. I’ve tried to be more intentional in my construction of these poems, focusing on including more imagery, playing around with rhyme and structure, and pursuing deeper themes. I’m pretty happy with the outcome so far.
Strangely, of my recent poems, I thought To Seek Deracination’s End would be my favourite, but upon reflection I think A Simulated Pleasure is the better poem. The former has it’s good moments, but in hindsight I feel like I was trying too hard to be ‘deep’ with this one. The latter came more naturally, and while the topic is still a lofty one, it doesn’t try to beat the reader over the head with its profundity. For those who’ve read them both—what do you think? Which did you prefer?
Thus ends another update. See you in the next one!
- D
I totally relate to the struggle. I have so much that I want to read and write about, but so little time. I will say that though this last year has been the busiest of my life, in terms of work and other hobbies, yet it’s also been the most prolific in terms of my writing. There’s something about busyness that is good about keeping you firing on all cylinders. Whereas I’ve had periods of my life where I was unemployed, and had no obligations, and I really was trying to read and write, but somehow just never had the energy or drive to get anything done consistently. I often goofed off and played video games.
I don’t necessarily think relationships have to be sacrificed for career, although I do think that the balance and expectations need to be recalibrated. For example, while we can all agree that it’s very important to spend a lot of time with young kids, say, age 0 - 3, many contemporary parents think that they need to spend all of their free time with their kids throughout their entire childhood. Whereas the truth is that kids need a lot of time alone with their own imagination and with their own friends. And so do our partners. And a lot of times there are things we can do for ourselves like exercise, which can be done in the company of friends and family, killing two birds with one stone. Or reading stories together.
The example that my friend and I always talk about when we worry about this is Christopher Nolan, who in my opinion is the best Director of all time, and he also has four kids.
Great Men are overrated lol. Love your approach and I'd fall into having the same balance! didn't know you were a swimmer too - that's cool!