Susan Sontag was Deadly Serious
Susan Sontag — How I Write
Sontag's work ethic was defined by a deep seriousness. She emphasized that the wisdom gained from lifelong engagement with the arts "cannot be duplicated by any other kind of seriousness." This seriousness extended to her advocacy for highbrow art and challenging works, like "plotless and punishingly obscure European novels."
I recently wrote about Susan Sontag’s studio in Manhattan, where she worked, as described by the Paris Review.
Now, let’s explore how she worked. Using that same interview and information from Benjamin Moser’s biography, Sontag, we will discover:
Why Sontag writes by hand
The importance of reading for writers
Why she doesn’t write every day
… and more.
If you want to support my work, please share it with someone (it helps so much).
What helps you get started writing?
Reading—which is rarely related to what I’m writing, or hoping to write. I read a lot of art history, architectural history, musicology, academic books on many subjects. And poetry. Getting started is partly stalling, stalling by way of reading and of listening to music, which energizes me and also makes me restless. Feeling guilty about not writing.
How do you write?
I write with a felt-tip pen, or sometimes a pencil, on yellow or white legal pads, that fetish of American writers. I like the slowness of writing by hand. Then I type it up and scrawl all over that. And keep on retyping it, each time making corrections both by hand and directly on the typewriter, until I don’t see how to make it any better. Up to five years ago, that was it. Since then there is a computer in my life. After the second or third draft it goes into the computer, so I don’t retype the whole manuscript anymore, but continue to revise by hand on a succession of hard-copy drafts from the computer.
Do you write every day?
No. I write in spurts. I write when I have to because the pressure builds up and I feel enough confidence that something has matured in my head and I can write it down. But once something is really under way, I don’t want to do anything else. I don’t go out, much of the time I forget to eat, I sleep very little. It’s a very undisciplined way of working and makes me not very prolific. But I’m too interested in many other things.
Sontag saw herself primarily as a novelist, though she was known more for her essays. She referred to her other writings as work she did to "keep writing" while developing as a fiction writer.
Thanks for reading! I post writing-related content like this three times a week. If you want access to the full archive, consider upgrading to a paid subscription. You can also help me grow by sending this to a friend. Thanks, and see you next time!