Writer’s Block, Business Books and Hemingway

I am in writing avoidance mode.  Several people have griped that I have not posted for a week, but the problem is deeper than that.  Should I finish Chapter 5 or paint the garage?  No contest.  Get out the bucket and brush, set aside the keyboard.

Feeling guilty as I put a coat of paint on the wall, I decided that, rather than get depressed or defensive, I should turn to the masters, and read some good writing.  Hemingway.  The king of the run-on sentence.

So, I was already grumpy when I flipped open my copy of his articles for magazines in the ’30s.  I started reading and realized very quickly just how sterile and lifeless my writing is compared to his.  He opens one article with a description of how he got shot.  Another is a first person diary of being in Pamplona for the Fiesta de San Fermin.  Another is a powerful story about Key West.

How does this make me feel?  Inspired?  No, REALLY depressed.  My first reaction is to scrap what I have done and rewrite my business “how to” book into the next great American novel.  Romance.  Intrigue.  Sweeping vistas.  Maybe even a scene in Havana or Cuzco.  Something exotic.  What do I have now?  Quotes from Indianapolis and Crawfordsville.  Charts about demographics.  Trend lines and future threats.

I am tempted to change my style.  I spend a couple of weeks a year in Key West, and occasionally have a gin in the bar that Hemingway frequented.  Photo attached of the spot.

I realize that what I am writing has a completely different audience.  Chief Financial Officers and CEOs and Human Resources types.  Not exactly the audience that Hemingway had.  He had literate readers who appreciated a finely turned sentence, and I’m facing an audience that hopes for concise  sentences with bullet points.  He had people with long attention spans, and I have Blackberry savants.

So, what have I learned?  I now know that it is tough to write if you have a short attention span.  Perhaps that qualifies me to write for the audience that are my peers, my fellow poster children of ADHD.

And I have learned to not read Hemingway for inspiration while writing a business book.  Stick to the classics.  Peter Drucker.  Malcom Gladwell.  And stay away from Gin.

Must get back to writing.  My garage looks nice, tho….

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