Healthy, Unhealthy

"While I was running, some other thoughts on writing novels came to me. Sometimes people will ask me this: 'You live such a healthy life every day, Mr. Murakami, so don't you think you'll one day find yourself unable to write novels anymore?' People don't say this much when I'm abroad, but a lot of people in Japan seem to hold the view that writing novels is an unhealthy activity, that novelists are somewhat degenerate and have to live hazardous lives in order to write. There's a widely held view that by living an unhealthy lifestyle a writer can remove himself from the profane world and attain a kind of purity that has artistic value. This idea has taken shape over a long period of time. Movies and TV dramas perpetuate this stereotypical -- or, to put a positive spin on it, legendary -- figure of an artist.

Basically I agree with the view that writing novels is an unhealthy type of work. When we set off to write a novel, when we use writing to create a story, like it or not a kind of toxin that lies deep down in all humanity rises to the surface. All writers have come face-to-face with this toxin and, aware of the danger involved, discover a way to deal with it, because otherwise no creative activity in the real sense can take place. (Please excuse the strange analogy: with a fugu fish, the tastiest part is the portion near the poison -- this might be something similar to what I'm getting at.) No matter how you spin it, this isn't a healthy activity."
Haruki Murakami