Nice piece by Bill Morris at The Millions about writers who’ve declared their retirements, stopped writing, then sort of kept writing, or really kept writing. I often think about not writing. Usually I tend to take weekends off, but even then, I sneak in a few words. Or I’m thinking about characters, so I’m writing mentally, I guess. I’ve been forced not to write by circumstance a few times, and I think it’s almost like withdrawal from a drug. A numbness takes over, and everything feels dead to me. When I come back to it, the lights seem to go back on, if that makes sense.

I would add Henry Miller to Morris’ list. He supposedly retired as age crept in to focus on painting.