diligence trumps decadence

via carrie swiggum at utne:

in poets and writers, amy shearn describes a phenomenon that might resonate with grad students in any program. expecting to meet wild hunter s. thompson wannabes in her MFA workshops, she found only tireless workers. in writing, as elsewhere, diligence kicks decadence's dissolute arse:

My classmates were more egghead than cokehead. At our parties we played dominoes, complained about the school’s administration, and went home early so we could get up the next day and write. After a while it became clear that the writers who were going to make it—the ones who were getting the grants and publications and cushy fellowships—were those who buckled down and worked hard, the nerds in the wrist braces who filled out paperwork with the diligence of accountants. As for me, I forced myself to stay on a prudent schedule and wrote a few hours every day before heading to my day job. It wasn’t sexy, but it worked. My first novel was published last summer.

i love that line about "going home early to get up the next day and write." but wasn't there a historical moment -- right up through kerouac, i'd imagine -- in which writers had greater license to behave licentiously? in the same article, charles baxter suggests that writers are fallen (rock) stars:

When an artist is no longer envied, when hopes are no longer invested in her or him, the aura fades, as does the glamour. Rock stars still have the aura; they are gods, and gods drink and get drugged-up and go wild and have sex with everybody and die young. Writers are no longer gods; everybody knows that.