I stumbled upon this article on a Facebook post by Shawn Mitchell, a fiction writer in the MFA program at SIUC. The rather interesting points in the article reference a book titled The Midnight Disease by Alice Flaherty. Apparently, that book makes the claim that writers in general are ten times more likely to be Manic-Depressive than the general population and poets are forty times more likely. Whether or not those claims are true is not entirely the issue. As I see it, there is a difficulty for writers in attempting to show their "genius." In a conversation with a poetic colleague of mine, Max Schleicher, we came upon the following observations (most of which speak more for myself than for Mr. Schleicher though I will interminably use the pronoun "we" throughout):
1. We haven't been reading the same things or in the same way we used to months ago
We have exclusively immersed ourselves in the art of poetry. That is what we came to an MFA program for. But, we shouldn't leave our non-poetic influences behind. Novels, creative non-fiction, newspapers, etc. are all genres that once delighted us, and without them we are just a little more stressed out. Primary genre should in no way be exclusive genre.
2. We haven't been writing the same way we used to months ago
There is a temptation to write poetry that poets would like. Or, perhaps worse, to write something that we believe workshop could come to a positive consensus upon. Neither of these things are, of course, truly possible. Poets will invariably hate certain poets and kinds of poetry, and it is hard for me to believe that a workshop will ever value the same things in a poem in the same way.
Are these things that every writer struggles with? Maybe, at some point in their career and development. Are these types of stresses that a number of other careers place upon people? Absolutely. So why are writers more manic-depressive than mail carriers, or firefighters, or secretaries?
One answer is that they are because we want them to be. The writer's life is romanticized so often, that everyone who attempts to make a living by telling stories must have the background of Ernest Hemingway, or be as troubled, penniless and unappreciated as Edgar Allen Poe. That simply is not the case, and, in my opinion, those types of writers are the exception and not the rule. That is not to say that this data is unverified or false. I have no way of knowing as I have not encountered that book. But, it does seem suspect.
For now, at least, I can be comforted that I have my sanity and believe that I can hold on to it for a very long time. I have been lucky enough to never struggle with depression and a suicidal thought has not come into my mind in these twenty-five years. My father used to say "Dance with who brung ya." And, that is very sane advice. Whatever keeps you mentally healthy, continue to do it. Whatever produced good writing in the past, continue to do it. Evolve, obviously, but do so in remembrance of things past. Poets and writers, believe that we can be normal functional citizens and that we can create characters and voice and plot without suffering a nervous breakdown. As Stephen King once said, and I paraphrase, We're all insane, it's just a matter of to what degree. That should never slow us down.
To lighten things up a bit, (and to take this post's tone in a completely different direction) Here's a video about how to make a how to video about making bacon. Though I think they forgot a step. Enjoy!
LOVE those dance moves.
video courtesy of Sequoia Nagamatsu and Rick Pechous
