In an interview with Lit Hub‘s Otherppl podcast, Louise Erdrich says that she doesn’t have a strict work habit but merely loves to write. One reason for her lack of habit was being a single mother. “My children came first, my daughters,” Erdich says. “My door was never closed. They never had to be quiet. They could have any pet they wanted. I didn’t have a lot of discipline because I didn’t have time for discipline.”
She also didn’t worry about appearances. “I would not think about whether I had a good idea; I would just write it,” Erdrich explains. “I would not think about whether I was capable; I would just put my pen on the page. And if I had an idea at any point and I was tired, I would write it anyway.”
That’s an important trait many writers don’t adopt – doing it anyway. “You gotta write. You can’t give yourself an out,” Erdrich says. “I didn’t give myself an out. It was never easy to do, but on the other hand, I really love doing it. It’s not like it’s work, exactly. You just can’t let yourself argue with your writer. You have to listen to the writer at all times. And that’s all I can say.”
