Interview with Jen Leo
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 05.19.06 | 2:41 PM ET
Travelers’ Tales editor extraordinaire (and friend of World Hum) Jen Leo fields questions about travel, editing and writing at eMarginalia.com. “I’m a romantic,” she says, “but I’ve never held any romantic ideals about writing.” A wise approach, Jen. How many perfectly good lives have been ruined by romantic notions about writing and the writing life? I shudder to consider the numbers.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
Jen Leo 05.21.06 | 8:29 PM ET
Hi Jim, thanks for the mention. You know, it’s interesting. My college boyfriend was the son of a bookseller in San Francisco. When I told her that I wanted to be a writer, she asked me why and noted that it’s a lonely life. I was surprised by that, but at 21 and not having had any exposure to working writers, I took her word. I started invisioning working on a book, at a desk, in a closed room, with nobody else around. That image did make me think that a writers lifestyle was not for me. But, I found a way to create a path that works for me.
And with writing on the web, a writers lifestyle can be truly redefined.
Find what works for you, and then challenge your limits, that’s my advice. No matter the task at hand, stretch your self.
Jim 05.23.06 | 10:44 PM ET
Sounds like good advice, Jen.