Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Bare Facts about Writers

“If God had meant us to walk around naked, he would never have invented the wicker chair.” –Erma Bombeck

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I was intrigued by the title of a blog that I recently ran across while searching for something totally unrelated. I couldn’t resist. I pointed my cursor and clicked on, The Naked Truth: Authors Who Write in the Buff. It may be more than you ever wanted to learn about some of the world’s famous authors, but I thought I’d share it with you because it made me laugh.

According to the article, Victor Hugo used nudity as a cure for writer’s block by having his servant take away all his clothes, leaving him with only pen and paper so he’d have nothing to do but write. Ernest Hemingway wrote standing up in the nude with his typewriter about waist height; D. H. Lawrence liked to climb trees in the nude before coming down to write; and Edmond Rostand wrote nude in the bathtub to keep from being interrupted by his friends. The only female on the list was Agatha Christie, who, it seems, liked to write anywhere in the nude.

For more details about these writers and several others I didn’t mention, you need to read the blog.

I can’t see myself taking up this rather unusual writing habit. Then again—the next time I encounter a supreme case of writer’s block…

How do you feel about baring it all in the pursuit of writing?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Erma Bombeck, Victor Hugo, Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence, Rostand, Agatha Christie, writer's block

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now THAT ... is interesting! :)

Actually in an enlightened society we'd have no need for clothing other than comfort against the elements. In the words of ("The Prophet") Kahlil Gibran-

"For what is modesty but a shield against the eyes of the unclean."

Jane Kennedy Sutton said...

Good point, Marvin!

Helen Ginger said...

Nah, couldn't do it. To do that I wouldn't need to be enlightened. I'd need to be en-darkened.

Helen
http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com

Bob Sanchez said...

Um, no. I wouldn't disrobe for my art. Much too distracting and pointless—and chilly.

Bob Sanchez
Author, Getting Lucky http://tinyurl.com/gettinglucky
http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I can see me writing in just an oversized t-shirt, but not totally naked!

Seems this habit applies to other artsy people as well - the lead singer for Deep Purple could only work in the studio if he was nude. (Gives you a rather disturbing image next time Smoke on the Water plays on the radio, doesn't it?)

L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net

Nancy J. Parra said...

Fun post- I could not write in the nude...it would put me too far into the physcial. When I write- I like to disappear into my head, not look down and worry about squishy bits. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Jane - I just added your blog to my Free Spirit blogroll. :)

Jane's Ride - Novelist Jane Kennedy Sutton's journey through the ups and downs of the writing, publishing and marketing world