Novelist as a Vocation

by Haruki Murakami

And as physical strength declines (I’m speaking in general terms here), there is a subtle decline in mental fitness, too. Mental agility and emotional flexibility are lost. Once when I was interviewed by a young writer I declared that “once a writer puts on fat, it’s all over.” This was a bit hyperbolic, and of course there are exceptions, but I do believe that for the most part it’s true. Whether it is actual physical fat or metaphoric fat. Most writers are able to compensate for this through improved writing technique or a more mature consciousness, but there is a limit to these as well. Recent research shows that aerobic exercise leads to a rapid increase in the number of neurons produced in the hippocampus in the brain. Aerobic exercise is sustained exercise such as swimming or jogging. However, if left as is, in twenty-eight hours these newly formed neurons will disappear without having served any purpose. It’s a real waste. But give these newly formed neurons some intellectual stimulation and they are activated—they connect with the network in the brain and become an organic part of the signal-transfer community.