How to Tell if You're a Writer | John Irving | Big Think

How to Tell if You're a Writer
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For John Irving, the need for a daily ration of solitude was his strongest "pre-writing" moment as a child.
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JOHN IRVING:

John Irving is the author of twelve books, including “The World According to Garp,” “A Prayer For Owen Meany,” and most recently, “Last Night on Twisted River.” Over his career he has won a National Book Award, an Academy Award for his adaptation of “The Cider House Rules,” and many other honors, and has been translated into over thirty languages. A former competitive wrestler, he splits his time between Vermont and Montreal.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Question: Did you know from an early age that you would be a writer?

John Irving: I supposed I had a number of what I might call pre-writing moments as a kid. I recognized at a pretty early age, certainly I was pre-teens, I noticed that the school day was enough of a day to spend with my friends. I seemed to have a need to want to be alone. Even before I started making almost landscape notes in a journal, even before I started keeping a journal, which happened to me when I was fourteen, even before then I had a need to come home from school by myself and to be in a room by myself or in my grandmother's garden by myself. I guess the earliest sign was how much I liked being alone, how much I actually needed to be alone, the way you need, or I need, exercise or food or a certain amount of sleep. There was that desire to be, and a comfort, at being alone.

Recorded on: October 30, 2009
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[alexanderthegreat]

In my opinion the reason that introverted people are more often writers then extroverted people is because they think inward, they spend more time in their mind, feeling their emotions deeper then extroverts. That doesn't necessarily mean that extroverts make bad writers, it only means that introverts are more often writers because it appeals more to their mindset. The average extrovert is less likely to have an interest in becoming a writer, just as an average introvert is less likely to have an interest in becoming a journalist, or a talk show host.

[neigh]

I'm am an introvert, but I think the earliest sign that I was a writer was my passion for stories.

[PolarChimes]

I think people who like to get lost in books, movies, and games, could make good writers also. Introverts might be better at internalizing the words they write, bringing them to life inside their minds. Writing becomes a powerful, cerebral adventure when you live with a rich inner life already. 

[SystemFreaKk]

This sounds more like, "How to Tell if You're an Introvert."

[sleek]

Being a writer is to leave a piece of you out there for people to see and hopefully understand. You have a good chance of being a messenger if you spend time alone, using your senses, and observing yourself. You can share it any way you want including a written form of communication.

[Emil-ulkb]

I like being by myself. I am comfortable with myself. Also my first book will be out in July/August 2016. Writers have to have a certain amount of wanting to be alone. They must spend time with their thoughts. Develop a story, be with story characters.

[ASMRconKiki]

I can relate to every single word. And I would like to become a writer as well. I have always thought that being alone was my big flaw, my introverted pleasure. Instead, it gives you more time to think and possibly, allows you to write more and better. 

[SpaceCattttt]

Well, I'm always alone. Should I pick up a pen, or what?

[loverainthunder]

I'm a fetus and I like being alone. But my mother is always around me. Selfish woman.

[TundraTress]

Actually I feel the same way... I seem to have social want during the school day.. almost as if I'm disappointed that I'm not as social as some people, but when I get home... I feel perfect. 

[BlueMaxx]

He's not saying being an introvert makes you a writer and there is no other aspect. He's saying being a loner helped with the task of writing. Which a writer usually is someone that sets themselves apart from others to be left alone with their devices, more often than not.

[EXHellfire]

I agree. Writers need time by themselves to think and muse. At least, at heart I know I am a writer and I feel addressed by this.

[markhanson]

"We live as we dream - alone."

[Lotus]

The words, “by myself”, “being alone, ” resonated so deeply. While cleaning out my childhood home after my parents’ passing, I found so many of my long forgotten, young writings in the attic. I proclaimed that art & music were my interests and that I would become a writer. Now, at 59, burned out & retired from a beautiful career in medicine, I am pursing a long ago dream. It is so important to “know thyself” & live in alignment with that way of being. Thank for this short, impactful clip.

[nunya]

I'm going to need all of you to get out of this thread, please.

[kelly]

This makes me so happy.
I plan to be a writer when I'm older, and knowing that a famous writer had the same need to be alone as me makes me feel so happy. 

[adamsteindl]

Being alone is like a warm cosy blanket for me.

[Nautilus]

I summarised the plot of Star Wars when I was 5 years old at school. I only ever wanted to be a writer. I have sold 3 copies of my first novel, but I won't stop.

[RoxzRay]

This is SO true, sometimes i feel bad if I tell a family member or friend that I need to go in a different room, and leave them alone, especially if they wanted the company, but it is so, so hard to write when with others, or with distractions. I find it possible sometimes, but it always then needs a lot of reworking and any quality content is few and far between.

[rajamohammed]

In my childhood, i was met with some awe by children my age and when it is not exactly friendship, i grew a self confidence in me which i think is fortunate in some aspects because my cousins during those years for some reason bullied and teased me as if somebody made them to deliberately.
As for being alone, i don't remember i missed anyone when I climbed tamarind trees at the roadsides in outskirts reading books, watching the mountains and forests and farms. I walked long hours through forests and climbed trees and watched plants and read with love for stories. The love for nature made me feel contended.
From an earlier age i noticed people talk and behave like they were story characters and i rarely interpreted their true adult communication because i am what they say as a late bloomer. I don't regret i came to adulthood so late. The childhood innocence is important for a writer for their imaginative thinking