Will Ferguson on Travel and the Art of Not Writing

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  09.08.09 | 1:54 PM ET

The Canadian travel writer, well past deadline on a new book on Northern Ireland, has found a new form of procrastination: Writing entertaining op-eds about the agony of writing—or not writing—to a deadline. Here’s a sample:

While I wrestled with the title (the wrestling of titles also being an excellent reason for Not Writing) the book itself had stubbornly and - it must be said - ungratefully refused to write itself. It lies buried somewhere in those boxes of paper, breathing, waiting for me to unearth it. I don’t need a word processor; I need a pitchfork. I need a secretary. I need - a coffee, that’s what I need. So off I go.

Tags: Humor, Travel Writing, Life of a Travel Writer

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for Will Ferguson on Travel and the Art of Not Writing

william patterson 09.16.09 | 1:53 PM ET

Writer’s block is that mental ailment which visits even the best storytellers, with that blank page staring back at you. It can be the reminiscensce of an embarassing childhood moment when you were called to front of the classroom to do that cursed math equation. As writers we may struggle with our plot lines, character development and hectic deadlines, however if we remember our purpose for writing then the task will not be so daunting. Every writer does have their own reason why they perform this art and their own techniques. But it is this one truth that each person that picks this craft is a storyteller.

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