tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post8276528957526180760..comments2024-03-28T11:30:46.101-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: Making Jack a Dull BoyOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-81189995326766870192012-06-04T02:07:31.287-04:002012-06-04T02:07:31.287-04:00Of course you're right, Tim. It's just th...Of course you're right, Tim. It's just that denial is my preferred way of coping:)Jeffrey Sigerhttp://www.jeffreysiger.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-18707595455608405132012-06-03T20:11:34.754-04:002012-06-03T20:11:34.754-04:00If you figure it out, Lisa, I'll pay for the e...If you figure it out, Lisa, I'll pay for the explanation. Jeffrey, you know as well as I do that you never know when you sit down whether you're going to produce junk or gold (or at least iron pyrites) and when the junk days stretch on, it's easy to lose faith in your ability to do anything good.Timothy Hallinanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00551263887774445511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-33377745950973815172012-06-03T15:36:37.641-04:002012-06-03T15:36:37.641-04:00Heh!
I definitely see writing as work. I'm n...Heh! <br /><br />I definitely see writing as work. I'm not sure if this is totally a bad thing, in my case -- I like feeling that I have a responsibility, a job to do, and thinking of it that way helps me depersonalize the process, somewhat, and lessens the horrible self-consciousness I have about showing what I do to other people. <br /><br />The fear of failure, of letting people down, the weight of expectations -- OH yeah. Is there some way we could just skip this part from now on?Other Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08079055348844157557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-86682149515124551812012-06-03T14:57:40.097-04:002012-06-03T14:57:40.097-04:00Let me put it to you simply: "You ain't g...Let me put it to you simply: "You ain't gonna fail, schmuck, so stop worrying." There, I hope that makes you feel better. It always did when my mother said it to me--though with a lot more class:)Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-75841552878843320392012-06-03T14:38:51.551-04:002012-06-03T14:38:51.551-04:00Hi, Lil -- Maybe "discipline" is the key...Hi, Lil -- Maybe "discipline" is the key. I think about my writing in terms of discipline -- I don't quit when it's going badly, I sit down to it seven days a week, etc. -- and I've always equated discipline with things I don't enjoy, i.e., work. This is clearly a mindset issue, and I have to work on it.<br /><br />Jeffrey, I remember times when I was working in the traditional sense when I would walk out of the office and just drive around LA or take cabs around NY, luxuriating in the experience of not being at work. Didn't matter whether it was something I would normally enjoy. You're absolutely right--nothing is easy, and that CERTAINLY includes writing. But it is, at times, deeply joyful, and that's the part I need to summon up when it starts to feel like work.<br /><br />Everett, that's right. Work is what's imposed upon you by outside forces, and even the thing you love to do most can become work when there are deadlines and you're overcommitted and you owe things to people and you can't figure out how to shoehorn a few more hours into the day. But I still need to deal with it, and so do you, or so it sounds.<br /><br />Hey, Dan -- when we get what we want, it sometimes turns out to have its own little packet of challenges. Certainly one of them for me is the fact that I now feel that other people expect my writing to be GOOD -- I mean they're investing money in it and people's jobs depend on sales (not just my books, obviously, or they'd all be living in refrigerator boxes, but the publication list as a whole). In the old days, people were surprised when I turned out something good, and now there's all this pressure. And that's obviously the root of the reluctance to start to work: fear of failure.Timothy Hallinanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00551263887774445511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-42578913606938791882012-06-03T13:50:02.648-04:002012-06-03T13:50:02.648-04:00We simply are not as logical as we would like to b...We simply are not as logical as we would like to be, nor as orderly. I think we need some discipline or we go sliding all over the dish, so to speak. So you keep writing good stuff, taking time off to hang loose. You are the one who names it -work or whatever. Just my mixed metaphor ridden pep talk for this Sunday morning :)lil Glucksternhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288522126331817172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-26241123147630894632012-06-03T13:04:24.323-04:002012-06-03T13:04:24.323-04:00Your reference to "gear" made me remembe...Your reference to "gear" made me remember how I sometimes--and emphasize sometimes--successfully handled the pressures of being the point man practicing "crisis" law. I'd say to myself, "It's time to put the clutch in." Then I'd go off and do whatever else it was that I was to do and let the drive shaft and transmission wildly do their thing without me. <br /><br />Yes, at times re-engaging involved an unpleasant gnashing of teeth, but nothing's easy. Unless of course you happen to have your own driver, like Patterson.Jeffrey Sigerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00718317707555064653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-71787454386801492552012-06-03T12:00:58.956-04:002012-06-03T12:00:58.956-04:00Somewhere 30-35 years ago, I fell in love with cre...Somewhere 30-35 years ago, I fell in love with creating games that can be played on computers. I found it FASCINATING and created them in every spare moment. As the years passed, I dreamt of making a living at it... and then about 23 years ago, I started doing JUST that. And now? I could take it or leave it. Been there, done that. Except... I STILL love it, when the cool idea strikes, and it's just me playing on the computer.<br /><br />What I've come to realize is that 'work' is doing whatever you feel compelled FROM THE OUTSIDE to do, and 'play' is whatever you feel compelled FROM THE INSIDE to do.<br /><br />As soon as you start sharing your 'play' with others, their expectations and desires start becoming albatrosses (albatrise? :-) around your neck.<br /><br />That's not to say I don't WANT and EXPECT you to continue to turn out great novels that I LOVE to read, Tim. In fact, why the hell aren't you busy writing RIGHT NOW??? Fer cryin' out loud, it's NINE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!! What better time to get the juices going, and...<br /><br />When I'd see actors or writers say, "Oh, I never watch my own movies," or "I NEVER read the reviews!" I always thought, "That's kind of silly, you mean you don't CARE about the quality of your work?" But I realize now that those two things aren't related at all. In fact, to maintain "work as play," you pretty much HAVE to ignore what others think of what you do. 'Play' is what you do for yourself. When you start doing it for others, it becomes 'work.'Everett Kaserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12371555243187874414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-85212700538971523142012-06-03T05:34:53.476-04:002012-06-03T05:34:53.476-04:00Wise as ever, Tim. When I was a journalist, I drea...Wise as ever, Tim. When I was a journalist, I dreamed of writing for pleasure, not to deadlines, and creating my own stories rather than those which fitted the ideas of a news editor. Now of course, I miss the deadlines to stop me procrastinating, and yearn for a firm editorial hand to let me know whether what I'm doing is along the right lines. Then, like you, when I sit and write I get lost in what I'm doing. Then I remember what I'm doing beats working for a living....<br /><br />Until the next day, when I do all I can to avoid sitting down to write. Maybe writing is wasted on writers?Dan Waddellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04320741202757960766noreply@blogger.com