Colson Whitehead Rejects This Very Widespread Writing Recommendation

One of the core items of inventive writing recommendation is rebuffed by bestselling novelist and two-time Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead.

“People say, ‘Write every day.’ That seems like a real imposition on my lifestyle, frankly,” Whitehead instructed Craig Melvin for the July 21 episode of “Glass Half Full.”

“Sometimes I’m not feeling it. Sometimes it’s like, Thanksgiving, and you have to be present for your family or whatever. So that’s a lost week,” he mentioned as Craig laughed.

Instead, Whitehead described his aim as hitting a sure variety of pages per week.

“If I can do like six pages a week: Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. That’s an accumulation. After a month you have like 20 something (pages), and after 10 months, you got, you know, 240,” he mentioned.

Whitehead added that he feels “lucky” to do business from home, the place his writing routine generally is a little extra versatile — and unconventional.

“I can write a page, take a nap, do some spontaneous weeping, get back to work,” he mentioned.

“That’s quite the process,” Craig mentioned, earlier than asking about Whitehead’s hobbies outdoors of labor.

“When I’m not working, I’m really not working at all,” Whitehead mentioned. “I cook a lot. I have a smoker, so a big slab of ribs, a brisket, that’s always fun in the summer. I’ll goof off and play video games. Stare off into space. Think about my regrets. And then when I’m ready to work, I’ll go back to work.”

He added that this hobbies encourage his work and assist “clear my head” for what’s subsequent.

Whitehead’s newest mission, “Cool Machine,” hit cabinets July 21. It’s the ultimate quantity in his “Harlem Trilogy,” which additionally accommodates bestsellers “Harlem Shuffle” and “Crook Manifesto.”

Although Whitehead instructed Craig that his latest guide is all the time his favourite, “Cool Machine” nonetheless stands aside. The novel feels “closest” to who he’s, he mentioned.

“I really think I did what I set out to do,” Whitehead mentioned. “I’m pretty proud of it.”

As for what’s subsequent?

“My next work — my next book is enough of a stretch and a challenge,” Whitehead mentioned.

“It’s a novel. It takes place in the 19-teens, and it’s not something I’ve done before. So the challenge of, ‘What am I doing? Why did I take this on?’ is exciting,” he added. “The characters are coming together.”