“Why am I working so hard? Going for 400 books, perhaps, but who’s really counting? Maybe in 10 years. Maybe if I live long enough. Maybe if I still have a head that works in old age. Maybe if I can just, following the Asimov model, type faster.”
How did I miss it? As of yesterday, when the piece showed up in the Huffington Post, Our Jane has written her three hundredth book.
Three hundred. That’s a three, two zeros. 300.
I suspect she did not do it by futzing around on the internet much of the day. Which means I’m going to stop typing this in a couple of sentences and get back to work. But — three hundred. It’s a staggering, gobsmacking amount. Poetry. Picture books. Chapter books. Novels. Three hundred books.
And she remembers them all, of course.
::sigh::
However did she do it? Butt in chair, obviously.
BIC.
Back to work, kids.
x-posted (with much more rambling) @ tanita’s blog.
Can I mention I'm having hair envy?
Could someone please tell me how to get all my white hair to come in at my temples like that? I may need to plan ahead on this one…
Yes, how cool is the hair? Not to mention the 300 books…
hahah I love that — BIC. I need that kind of discipline!! I aspire 🙂
Amen to that… I felt the same way. The privileged vantage point of those in plight is kind of tedious. Gilbert has a way of romanticizing life's difficulties, which I think is what makes her palatable. But, it's also straining to see that perspective when things are so much harder for other people.
Whenever you get a chance, please check out my collaborative blog, DysfunctionalBeginnings.com! All kinds of material (literary, nonfiction, multimedia, video) about growing up, and beginnings in general. We've survived it. Now let's attest to it! 🙂
i could tell you stories of how she did it — privately. they are none too pretty.