What I Learned about Writing from “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” by Haruki Murakami
When I picked up this book, I was expecting something like a memoir or a collection of essays on running. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was so much more than that, and I found myself highlighting numerous passages that gave me a new perspective on life and writing (as well as running). I read the book in three days, though I could have easily finished in one if I didn’t have other stuff going on. I also wanted to reflect on some of the great lessons I’d learned from it and apply them in my own life and writing habits.
In case you don’t know, Haruki Murakami started running the same year he decided to sell his jazz bar and devote himself to writing — he was thirty-three. For me, reading this book now at thirty-three, gave me motivation and encouragement, and it was like a sign that I, too, should start pursuing new goals. As Murakami says, “That age may be a kind of crossroads in life.”
In no particular order, here are some lessons on writing from the ‘running novelist’:
On deciding to become a novelist
When I read about how Murakami initially started writing, I was in awe, and it completely changed the way I thought about writing. He describes his sudden desire to…
