Comments on: Heartsick, Footsore and Addicted: Avoiding and Embracing Writer Stereotypes

By: Procratinate for these Posts: 8/22/09 : Bizzia - Business News and Commentary – Finance and Business Tips

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:11:22 +0000

[...] Heartsick, Footsore and Addicted: Avoiding and Embracing Writer Stereotypes from The Life and Times of a Freelance Writer [...]

By: Bumbles

Bumbles — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:41:43 +0000

I’m very sorry that you lost your friend. Do all firefighters sport walrus mustaches? A dear friend of my husband’s family who is also a firefighter wears one as well. They are so brave and hardworking. They do such good work – we should be writing about them more often – getting their story over a round of beers while trying to avoid stereotypes.

I think that troubled souls have a need to get it all out, and writing or art or music is often the only way they can find. It is indirect yet personal.
Bumbles´s last blog ..ON MOVIES ~ Fear Factor…

By: Natalia Maldonado

Natalia Maldonado — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 04:57:24 +0000

Jenn, I’m so sorry about the loss of your friend. I will send my thoughts your way, and also to his family, and hope that you all get through this difficult time.

I think that part of the “sensitivity” that comes with being a writer is due to the fact that in order to write well we often have to see things from other peoples’ points of view and put ourselves in their shoes. I remember coming home from one interview (it was supposed to be a simple bio for an alum mag) in tears because in learning about the person’s life I also got a real hard glimpse into the sadder parts of their reality, and I felt completely helpless to do anything about it.

I also heard on a podcast about writing that some studies have shown that creativity might actually be a form of mental illness, or mental abnormality, (I forget the exact term). But basically they were saying that creativity often stems from being able to see the world very differently than most people, and that stems from the fact that artists’ brains work differently, too.

As to the kind of writer I want to be? As a teenager I thought I wrote best when I was depressed, so I probably would’ve romanticized the idea of the sad artist. Then I grew up and learned that writing made me happy, so that was quite the catch-22. I want to be the kind of writer who, even when the page is blank and my inner critic is at its worst, never forgets that I’d be far more miserable if I didn’t get to write for a living. I think we write to understand life a bit better, so we might as well try to make it as best a life possible.
Natalia Maldonado´s last blog ..The parenting approach to revision

By: Secret Name

Secret Name — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:50:05 +0000

It’s almost as if these people are either emotionally starved (can’t love others because they’ve been so hurt and abused) that they put all their love and pain into their work (like Bukowski), or they are overly loving and need approval and get wrapped up emotionally in another person so they don’t even know where they stop and the other person begins (Plath) and they just consume any emotion that person has so it’s not enough and they put the pain of it not being enough and the additional need into their work. Vehement creativity as a lasting side-effect to emotional abuse and neglect suffered as a child. But then, what do I know, I’m drunk right now.

By: Jenn Escalona

Jenn Escalona — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:22:09 +0000

Amen, Secret Name.

For some people “writer” is a job, for others, it’s a life. While sure there are some writers who just want to feed their families and take two week vacations to the beach every year, there are also some who want to be among the names I mentioned in the post. You’ll notice I didn’t name one single example of a writer who just took the paycheck and didn’t live the life.

By: Secret Name

Secret Name — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:49:07 +0000

I’m leaving this under a secret name so it can’t be Googled. I think there is a fundamental tie between a messed up person and a creative person. I think most writers with an interesting voice and creative way of writing are probably more fcked up than they want to admit. Sure, some are able to hide it…but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. I think this deep down depression drives their search and their inspiration.