BROADCASTS.com

Over and over I hear my students, my peers, and my own interior voice talk about failure as writers. Often this is linked to an idea of \u2018productivity\u2019, and in particular to a perception of others as \u2018more productive\u2019. As publication online increases the speed at which writing can appear in public, the distance between writing as a process and writing as a product closes. Consequently, the concept of productivity is measured more and more in terms of visible, finished objects, muddling the relation of publication to the act/process of writing. I\u2019ll question the usefulness of these ideas\u2014failure and productivity\u2014for writing, and suggest ways of reframing our writing processes to accommodate work that \u2018fails\u2019 or is not visibly \u2018productive\u2019. In addition to talking about how what seems like \u2018failure\u2019 is an integral part of making writing that\u2019s worthwhile, I\u2019ll offer strategies and concepts\u2014the multiple, the telescope\u2014that help me keep writing despite unhappiness with my work or the feeling that others are \u2018better writers\u2019 (meaning \u2018more productive\u2019) than I am.