

Dreams of a Desk Job - zafka
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/06/opinion/06Grisham.html?th&emc=th

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bobf
It took John Grisham three years (1984-1987) to write "A Time To Kill", and it
wasn't published until 1989 because he couldn't find a publisher. Fast forward
to 2010 -- in an op-ed to the NY Times, he says that writing is the most
difficult and frustrating job he has ever had. Isn't that astonishing?
Grisham, arguably one of the most accomplished fiction writers of the past
three decades, says writing is hard. Harder than being a lawyer who primarily
handles indigent cases, being on an asphalt crew in summer, selling men's
underwear, and being a politician, in fact.

Other than that, the key point I noted was that writing was not his childhood
dream, a practiced hobby, or even a well-researched attempt at changing
careers. It was something he decided to do one day and found to be incredibly
difficult, but kept at it.. ultimately becoming a monumental success.

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roblund
I read that whole article without knowing who the author was (not on purpose,
I just didn't look). When I got to the end I was a quite surprised to see that
it was John Grisham. I was thinking it was going to be some small-time author
I'd never heard of. Pleasantly surprised.

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smashing
I didn't know who wrote this until I read the paragraph on "Time to Kill". A
movie came out with that name just after I graduated high school and I was the
only one of my friends to see it. Many years later, I saw him interviewed on
Charlie Rose. The career transitions inspire me.

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alexsherrick
thanks a lot for this

