Shopkeeping

Amos Oz on the writing life:
"I sit by my desk and wait. In the kibbutz I felt very guilty. On my free day, on my writing day I felt very guilty because I would work for the whole morning and produce six sentences and then I'd share the table for lunch in the communal dining hall with people who milked 500 cows or plowed 500 acres and I'd say 'Look at me, I've only produced six sentences.'

But then I taught myself to think of myself as a shopkeeper, my job is to open the joint and sit and wait for customers. If I have customers it's a good day. If I don't have customers I'm still doing my job by just sitting there and waiting"