"Yes, after some time spent last year on other commitments, most of them speaking engagements, I am now about halfway through a novel that I hope will come out in 1998"
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The most revealing word here is “Yes”: a small, polite hinge that implies an ongoing public expectation. MacNeil isn’t simply offering an update; he’s managing a constituency. As a journalist-turned-public figure, he’s answering the quiet pressure that comes with visibility: if you’ve been on television, if you’ve been authoritative in the nation’s living rooms, people feel entitled to the next product of your mind. “Yes” signals: I’ve heard you, I haven’t disappeared, and I’m still working.
Then he slips in the justification, almost apologetically: “other commitments,” quickly specified as “most of them speaking engagements.” That parenthetical detail matters. Speaking tours are both a status marker and a tacit confession of distraction, the kind of work that flatters the ego and drains the calendar. It’s also a nod to the 1990s media ecosystem, where serious journalists increasingly became brands, monetizing credibility through lectures, panels, and circuit-friendly expertise.
“About halfway through” is calibrated candor. It offers progress without overpromising, a journalist’s instinct for accuracy applied to the messy business of art. The phrase “I hope” does more than hedge; it acknowledges how unlike broadcast deadlines a novel can be. You can hear the tension between two professional identities: the disciplined narrator of events and the slower, riskier novelist trying to invent them.
Finally, anchoring it in “1998” turns creativity into a deliverable, a public-facing deadline that reassures the audience while quietly motivating the author. The subtext: I’m trying to earn your patience and preserve my authority in a world that rewards constant output.
Then he slips in the justification, almost apologetically: “other commitments,” quickly specified as “most of them speaking engagements.” That parenthetical detail matters. Speaking tours are both a status marker and a tacit confession of distraction, the kind of work that flatters the ego and drains the calendar. It’s also a nod to the 1990s media ecosystem, where serious journalists increasingly became brands, monetizing credibility through lectures, panels, and circuit-friendly expertise.
“About halfway through” is calibrated candor. It offers progress without overpromising, a journalist’s instinct for accuracy applied to the messy business of art. The phrase “I hope” does more than hedge; it acknowledges how unlike broadcast deadlines a novel can be. You can hear the tension between two professional identities: the disciplined narrator of events and the slower, riskier novelist trying to invent them.
Finally, anchoring it in “1998” turns creativity into a deliverable, a public-facing deadline that reassures the audience while quietly motivating the author. The subtext: I’m trying to earn your patience and preserve my authority in a world that rewards constant output.
Quote Details
| Topic | Writing |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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