Roberto Bolaño on Why Writers Stop Writing

Why do so many writers stop writing? In this video, Roberto Bolaño will discuss Arthur Rimbaud, Juan Rulfo, and other authors who quit writing at the peak of their careers. I will then apply Bolaño's ideas to our struggles as writers in 2024.
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[@michaelv8757]

I will say your videos have definitely inspired me to pick up my pen more. I never went to college and barely graduated HS but I always loved reading and writing.

[@sinstair8406]

One of my favorite writters. Greetings from Chile, land of poets.

[@CommenterFromJupiter]

I found your mentioning of pranayama and meditation very interesting. During my childhood to early 20s I was a big musician. I practiced all the time and my skill exceeded what I thought I'd ever be capable of. I even had a youtube channel I'd post on that was slowly growing. But in my mid 20's I dealt with loss and emotional trauma for the first time and experimented with meditation and psychadelics in an attempt to heal myself. I wound up getting sucked into it and was meditating and reading Indian philosophers for hours a day for about 3 years. I completely lost interest in music because I stopped feeling creative. Now I mainly use my free time to read and I journal a bit. I've never talked to anybody about that, but when you spoke about it I completely related. I had never really thought about it in that way.

[@WriteConscious]

hey brotha, I have a similar story. You can make a sick comeback! I was sucked in way too deep for years too and my creative output was zero lmao.

[@bennobenny750]

I love your perspective on writing and culture.

[@ekurisona663]

ian, i just found your channel but damn brother - this is great content

[@ekurisona663]

let's not forget all the people who should have stopped writing...

[@MrUndersolo]

That deserves an applause! 👏👏😅

[@donvonfilms2937]

I am getting addicted to Ian's videos...nah. Thank you for what you do. Your videos help a lot.

[@bvanhise]

Is that a pool table in your house?

[@WriteConscious]

Lol, I'm visiting my parents right now! I am a broke teacher without space in my house for a pool table😂

[@michaelmoore4022]

This came for me at the perfect time. I'm in

[@jurgenmeyer7602]

Hey Ian, what are your thoughts on balancing writing and reading time?

[@WriteConscious]

If you haven't read a ton then focus on reading and practice sentence structure. Then focus on a big writing project and supplementally read to inspire you until finished

[@adrianstumpp5883]

Lol. I was typing a comment about Rulfo and Garcia Marquez and then you started talking about it. So I deleted the comment. But I wanted to feed the algorithm gods on your behalf anyway. Pedro Paramo was required reading at my MFA. It's one of those novels where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. One of the all time greatest first sentences, IMO.

[@johnbalfour8157]

I can't speak for others, but for me it has a lot to do with the malaise created by the time we live in; the stupid, mediocre, over technologized time. And that's aside from all the other mundane things you mentioned that would discourage (if not stop) you from writing. Then you see the type of writing getting praised to no end today and it makes you want to throw up your hands and forget the whole enterprise.

[@WriteConscious]

I feel you brotha. But, just know me and others here have your back. We believe in you. I can't read everyone's writing, but I am here to advocate for you. You got this my man!

[@donvonfilms2937]

I am addicted to coffee and I ain't ashamed to say it. I looooooooove my cup of Java.

[@SLRagen]

Great vid, thanks! Is there one about shitty first drafts? New subscriber here. I like what you said about the Cormac McCarthy draft. It gives me some hope. I have a hard time reading while I’m writing. I think it’s because I see these finished products and panic. Thanks again!

[@jurgenmeyer7602]

Yes, reading mind blowing work gives me an inferiority complex too at times, we have to find a way to make it push us to write better, instead of feeling hopeless and wanting to give up. Maybe reading earlier drafts of great works can help with that.

[@gomezgomez7759]

Hi ian, whats ur book about??

[@WriteConscious]

Orpheus

[@ekurisona663]

the opportunity cost of spending your life sitting in a quiet room moving words around on a piece of paper is....living life.... you're literally choosing to write about life instead of living it... it's hard to overstate how difficult a decision it is to decide to spend your life writing.... for some people it makes sense.... for most it won't....

[@khadimndiaye7730]

Great video! I wish there would be a German counterpart to you!

[@toddjacksonpoetry]

I'm lucky, in a way, to be so obsessive. I just tune everything out. Have gotten evicted, twice, because I just wouldn't stop working on poetry.

[@joshualane1716]

You didn’t get evicted for writing poetry; you got evicted for not managing your resources properly (money, time, energy, etc.).

[@toddjacksonpoetry]

@@joshualane1716 You imply that virtues other than getting your writing done, exist.

[@joshualane1716]

@@toddjacksonpoetry they do. Pay your bills, don’t make other people be responsible for you because you decided to be homeless. You can even find jobs where you can write during your shift. A hotel desk clerk (especially at night), a security guard, a waiter, etc.

[@toddjacksonpoetry]

@@joshualane1716 Oh, I've done better than that lately, thanks for your concern. For me the trick is twofold: 1) find something you love doing in itself 2) promote your work so that it becomes an expense, even if just a small one. If you're good, though, there can come a moment when you're going to have a choice to make between your bills - between your happiness, and that of others - and your art.

[@joaquinmonfort1974]

From what I can remember from reading his biography many years ago, I think Rimbaud stopped writing partly because it was bound up with his belief that he could somehow become a supernatural deity or "god". This was due to his dabbling in the occult from a young age. When he realised he had failed to achieve his goal he gave up writing. As such he did not write exclusively because he wanted to become a great artist but also because he wanted to become a god. He then became obsessed with trying to make money, using his talent for languages to learn African languages so he could engage in international trade. This too failed, if I remember rightly.

[@thevivisector3983]

I really like what you said and admire the authors you cited/mentioned but youre so wrong about India (or subcontinent) not having canonical work... I'm not a flagbearer or a defender, just mentioning it. I know western novel tradition is amazing and books like Pedro Paramo, 2666 and Blood Meridian are one of my favorites.

[@WriteConscious]

I was talking about classical India. Show me their Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer who is at a similar objective quality and I'll admit I'm wrong!

[@donvonfilms2937]

What are some great Indian novels?

[@jurgenmeyer7602]

@@donvonfilms2937 Salman Rushdie comes to mind as a great indian writer

[@donvonfilms2937]

@@jurgenmeyer7602 True, but he had to flee to the West. Look, I love the Thousand and One Arabian Nights and I am trying to get into Pushkin. Some Russian writers were amazing and that Marquez guy from Colombia wrote some mind-blowing stuff. It seems like writing is getting worse though. I blame it on the education systems.

[@thevivisector3983]

@@WriteConscious understand. have you heard of Heer by Waris Shah? Its a classical punjabi epic...

[@stringfellowbalk2654]

Why in the hell would you want to be a writer?

[@timmellis5038]

I like your videos. You always get me thinking. Talking about being the best at something, I always remember a Zen master who talked about people getting into the lotus position. Some people couldn't do it, and he noticed that they always felt like shit. But he also noticed the ones who could jump into the position never really had any staying power. There's another Zen thing I heard about four horses, but I only remember two. The fourth one needs to get whipped by the rider's whip and feel the pain deep in its bones to know to finally turn or stop. The first one knows to turn or stop with a tiny jerk of the reigns. When people hear this story they always think they are like the first horse, but really we are all the fourth horse. Maybe the writers quit because they didn't have the drive to push them further and better. To be honest I've never read David Foster Wallace, so I don't really know, but I wonder since he had a mother, a Prof Writer, and a father, a Prof Philosopher, they taught him well (at least he didn't tell them to leave him alone), and he became good at writing, and maybe surrounded by important Profs, he became conceited or thought he's smarter than shit. And ya, he could write. His mom taught him. So what the fuck am I talking about? Would David Foster Wallace been a star if he was born in my shit family? Are there really 16 year old's who are incredible writers with incredible knowledge? I wonder what Rilke's and Rimbaud's parents did? Anyways, I guess my overall theme here is: Work ethic. Mind you, it's not like I'm ever going to learn to play basketball like Lebron.

[@johnglynhughes4239]

If you stop writing you don't love writing.