19th Century Writers, Productivity, and Us

photo courtesy sxc.hu

"Prowling about the rooms, sitting down, getting up, stirring the fire, looking out of the window, tearing my hair, sitting down to write, writing nothing, writing something and tearing it up, going out, coming in, a Monster to my family, a dread Phaenomenon to myself..." --Charles Dickens in a letter to a friend, February 19, 1856, while working on Little Dorrit

Does the above quote describe any of your writing sessions of late, even though the new year has barely begun? Take heart. You're in good company!

I came across these words of Dickens in an article from the archives of the New York Times: The More They Write, The More They Write, by Jay Parini, dated July 30, 1989. In it, Parini discussed the productivity of some of the great writers of the 19th century and shared insights into their peculiar habits that helped them sustain their high level of writing output.

He wrote about Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) whose work included 27 novels and a 700 page journal: "The ferociously driven author always had at least two projects in the works at any given time, and...two desktops (which) helped to keep them separate." Two desks? That would be a luxury. Can we also have an extra day in the week?

Honore de Balzac (1799-1850), who wrote numerous books between 1822-1848 (eight books in 1842 alone), drank potent cups of coffee. "To spur himself on," Parini wrote, "Balzac used heavy doses of coffee that he prepared in the Turkish fashion, infusing the grounds in cold water, then heating them; he gradually used less and less water, creating a brew as thick as mud--a caffeine riot." Maybe some chocolate, too?

"Dickens (1812-1870), he added, "had no will to resist taking on new projects. Since his novels sold exceedingly well, publishers were only too willing to get him to sign on the dotted line. At several points in his career, he worked simultaneously on two or three novels while editing a journal and managing the affairs of a vast extended family. His energy level was such that he often took long late-night walks to cool his nerves." Yes, walks. I can identify with that, but not late at night!

Yet, Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), author of over 60 novels, wrote only three hours a day. Trollope was quoted as saying, "All those I think who have lived as literary men will agree with me that three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write." His plan was to write 250 words every quarter of an hour. Three hours sounds reasonable, but 250 words every 15 minutes? Hmmm....

So what can we take from this? A few thoughts:
1. Productivity is a personal thing.
2. Productivity...ahem...takes work.
3. But productivity doesn't always mean driving ourselves to exhaustion.
4. Productivity is a result of balance, being realistic, and discovering our own personal rhythms (and limits)--although the examples of others can be a source of inspiration, including 19th century authors for the 21st century.

Getting an insight into a-day-in-the-life of the famous Charles Dickens makes me want to re-read one of his all time classics, A Tale of Two Cities. The opening line has stayed with me since high school: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Sort of describes the writing life in general, doesn't it?

Do any writerly idiosyncrasies help keep your words flowing? Unusual patterns or habits? Do you struggle with "Charles Dickens"-type days? Any plans to read a classic this year?

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(Brain) Food For Thought

"It's hard not to multitask, given all the things we have to do and all the streams of information coming at us non-stop."--Douglas Merrill

photo courtesy microsoft office clipart

Multitasking. A word that's been around for some time, and one that expresses our sometimes-frenzied culture. There's never enough time, especially in this intense information age, so gotta' do several things at once or we won't get everything done, right?

Maybe wrong.

Multitasking (n.): "the performance of multiple tasks at one time." (Merriam Webster).

I hadn't given much thought to this concept until a recent health newsletter came in the mail. The headline announced, Stop Multitasking to Improve Your Memory (Life Advice, Winter 2013).

In it, results of studies conducted by Dr.Gary Small, director of the UCLA Longevity Center and author of The Alzheimer's Prevention Program, were summed up. "A good memory requires focusing attention and getting information into memory stores so it can be retrieved later. When multitasking--switching from phone to computer to TV--information doesn't stay in the brain long enough to be retained." He also says that the belief that multitasking helps get more done is a fallacy. "Multitasking makes people sloppy and error-prone. Do one thing at a time and your memory will improve."

Turns out this has been a subject that's been studied and bandied about for some time. Titles of a variety of blog posts--and sound bites extracted from them--tell quite a story:

The Myth of Multitasking, Tyler Falk. "A new study from the University of Utah calls out all the self-proclaimed multitaskers out there. The take away? You're not as good at multitasking as you think you are."

Why Multitasking Doesn't Work, Douglas Merrill. "I know, you think you're good at multitasking. And to some degree, you are. You can walk and chew gum at the same time. Folding laundry while talking on the phone? Not a problem...This form of multitasking works because these are rote tasks that don't require much brainpower. Unfortunately, our brains just aren't equipped for multitasking tasks that do require brainpower...When you're trying to accomplish two dissimilar tasks, each one requiring some level of consideration and attention, multitasking falls apart. Your brain just can't take in and process two simultaneous, separate streams of information and encode them fully into short-term memory. When information doesn't make it into short-term memory, it can't be transferred into long-term memory for later recall...Instead of actually helping you, multitasking works against you. It's making you less efficient, not more."

Is Multitasking Bad for Us?, Brandon Keim. "It is sometimes argued that multitasking is nothing new. For more than half a century, people grew up talking on the phone while watching TV, doing homework while listening to music, and so on. The multiple, ubiquitous information streams of early-21st-century life, however, are different in kind rather than degree. If we used to ride a cognitive horse-and-buggy, now we're in a race car." Also, from a study Keim quotes, "High multitaskers were bad at filtering irrelevant information from relevant, something that, one might suppose, a multitasker should be especially good at. High multitaskers also had diminished powers of mental organization and extra difficulty switching between tasks."

The Cognitive Costs of Multitasking, Kendra Cherry. "Recent research...has demonstrated that switching from one task to the next takes a serious toll on productivity. Multitaskers have more trouble tuning out distractions than people who focus on one task at a time. Also, doing different things at once can actually impair cognitive ability." Cherry goes on to give a three-part definition on what multitasking can mean: 1. performing two or more tasks simultaneously, 2. switching back and forth from one thing to another, 3. performing a number of tasks in rapid succession.

Multitasking is Making You Stupid, Jessica Stillman. "Doing many things at once isn't just distracting--it actually takes points off your IQ, scientists say...'A study done at the University of London found that constant emailing and text-messaging reduces mental capability by an average of 10 points on an IQ test...This effect is similar to missing a night's sleep.'"

Ouch. Where do those of us who multitask on a regular basis go with information like this? Can we slow down and give full attention to the task at hand? Can we prioritize? Can we be more productive, more nurturing, more engaged in the moment? Is there a counter to the debate that says multitasking isn't so bad? Should the word "balance" be introduced to the discussion?

What about you? Do you multitask regularly? What is your definition of multitasking? Has your productivity benefited or suffered? How well is your brainpower functioning?

Just some (brain) food for thought...

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