Hungry to Write

In conversations with several writer friends lately, I've been comparing notes about what kind of energy it takes out of them to sit down day after day and write their hearts out -- which for the best results is the right way to do it.

Every one of them spoke about how tired and hungry this get by the process. It's a little counter-intuitive at first. After all, it's not like we are engaged in heavy physical labor. We can all appreciate why a farmer or a house painter or a moving company worker must be bone tired by the end of the workday.

In contrast, writers sit, stare, think, and key in notes. Note by note, they work to compose. Here a certain word; there a phrase; over there, a sentence that squeaks as painfully as nails on a blackboard; back here, a word puddle as comforting as a bubble bath.

When it is going well, we take a break, make a lunch or another pot of coffee, then get back at it. When it is going badly, our shoulders and necks begin to hurt. We get all bunched up with pain. Either way, our hunger never slacks. The neurological processes involved must consume a lot of energy.

Food in, words out. That would be on a good day.

(This one is from 16 years ago tomorrow. I’m still getting hungry from daily writing.)

HEADLINES:

• D.C. Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Police Takeover (NYT)

• Putin to offer financial incentives to Trump at Ukraine summit (Guardian)

• Why Putin thinks Russia has the upper hand (NYT)

• Even before Alaska summit, Putin is redrawing global order to his liking (WP)

• Growth-loving authoritarians are failing on their own terms (Economist)

• Bondi Tightens Trump’s Grip on D.C. Police and Names ‘Emergency’ Commissioner (NYT)

• Border Patrol chief crashes Newsom’s rollout of California redistricting campaign (SFC)

• DC Mayor Bowser walks delicate line with Trump, reflecting the city’s precarious position (AP)

• D.C. police to increase cooperation with ICE as part of Trump's crackdown (NBC)

• Trump’s answer to numbers he doesn’t like: Change them or throw them away WP)

• The fight is on. How redistricting could unfold in 8 entangled states (NPR)

• Stocks retreat after hot US inflation data shakes Fed rate cut hopes (Reuters)

• Social Security has existed for 90 years. Why it may be more threatened than ever (AP)

• WhatsApp says Russia is trying to block its service. (Reuters)

• Female vets in Congress slam Hegseth’s repost of Christian Nationalist (Military Times)

• The director of My Undesirable Friends, a documentary about Russia’s crackdown on journalists before the invasion of Ukraine, talks about making her epic five-hour film and why it’s a warning for the U.S. (Rolling Stone)

• Israel's Smotrich launches settlement plan to 'bury' idea of Palestinian state (Reuters)

• Character.AI Gave Up on AGI. Now It’s Selling Stories (Wired)

• Women with AI ‘boyfriends’ mourn lost love after ‘cold’ ChatGPT upgrade (Al Jazeera)

• Beijing's first World Humanoid Robot Games open with hip-hop and martial arts (AP)

• The art of persuasion: how top AI chatbots can change your mind (FT)

• Researchers built a social network made of AI bots. They quickly formed cliques, amplified extremes, and let a tiny elite dominate. (Business Insider)

• AI designs antibiotics for gonorrhoea and MRSA superbugs (BBC)

• Big Tech’s A.I. Data Centers Are Driving Up Electricity Bills for Everyone (NYT)

• JD Vance Booed  By Own Reflection  In Mirror (The Onion)