The novelist Isabel Allende wrote daily letters to her mother. The habit influenced the way she lived. As she went about her day, Allende would look for things that were worth mentioning. She paid attention to things she wouldn’t otherwise have noticed. It’s something you do when you want to share a bit of your life with your mother.
For decades, my friend Melvyn made a journal entry in the form of a note to his grandson. Melvyn usually wrote late at night, just before bed. He’d look back over the day for at least one thing — and if one thing didn’t suggest itself, it made him wonder whether he was paying attention.
I’m fascinated by writing routines, but I have friends who avoid them, thinking that getting into a rut is not a good way to nurture creative impulses.
We talk about writing as if it were one thing. It’s not. Different people write in different ways because they are doing different things. Writing a report to inform someone is not the same as writing a novel to entertain someone.
When people tell me they are writing, I start asking questions. There’s no telling what they’re up to. I suppose that’s why I can’t resist reading interviews with writers.
• Source: Gilbert Cruz, “The Interview: Isabel Allende Understands How Fear Changes a Society”; The New York Times, April 26, 2025.
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