Author P.J. O'Rourke, author of Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialismtalks toThe Telegraph (U.K.) about his writing habits.
"Writing is agony," he grimaces. "I hate it."
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"Let's put it this way. When I'm writing, I spend a lot of time thinking, 'My, doesn't the top of the fridge look dirty'. It takes for ever. People think writing is easy, but just ask them to sit down and write a thank you note to their aunt, or something, and they turn purple. I like thinking about writing. I like having written. But actually sitting down and doing it...."
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What surprises him is that writing hasn't got any easier. "Sure, I can look at some of my old pieces and see lapses of taste or clumsinesses of construction and think, 'wouldn't do it that way now', but that doesn't mean the process has become plainer to me. The thing is, when you get right down to it, and it's painful to say this, but, well, few writers get better as they get older. In fact, it's hard to think of one.... On the other hand, maybe it's just laziness. I mean, I only read English in college because I already spoke the language."
It's interesting that one can never get a writer of humorous essays to admit that he loves what he does. We might think that he's having entirely too much fun.
