Houston, Our Brain Has A Problem
Sunday, August 30, 2009
August has not been a very good month for us, in terms of Producing Our Own Art, and lately we have begun to entertain the uncomfortable suspicion that perhaps there is a Reason why so many Artists are baristas, dishwashers, bartenders, etc.; the Reason being that it is significantly easier to leave the parts of one's brain required for the production of one's art supple and lithe when one is not occupied all day with a job that closely resembles what one would already like to be doing with one's time, with the notable exception that one's creative energy is expended in nurturing the talents of other people. Although when we have been a barista, dishwasher, bartender, etc., we have traditionally spent the majority of our free time complaining about humanity and drinking ourselves under the table, so possibly we are just lazy. Also, can a brain BE supple and lithe? We are not sure, but maybe we should retry having Deep Thoughts when we have not dragged ourselves home from an overly hip James-Dean themed dance night in the far recesses of Williamsburg at three in the morning of the day on which said Deep Thoughts are being endeavored. Whoooeee. Anyway. What about you, OPP, yeah you know me (Other People in Publishing! Get it?!?!? Get it?!?!? BEST NINETIES PUN EVER?!?!?)? Do you write? Do you care about writing anymore? Do you want to do anything when you get home besides crawl under your bed and hang out there with a nice aperitif and a stack of young adult fantasy novels? Do we need to find a different job? Can "Steve" even survive without us? Who will remind him to eat lunch? Who will reject his queries? Who will unearth the hidden gems of the slushpile? Who will astound the office with his/her sartorial experiments? Who will lead the Other Assistants in their quest for truth, justice, and office coffee that isn't gross?
On an unrelated note, watching the Sigur Ros documentary is totally making us want to move to ICELAND. Want to buy us a ticket? You know you do! We would DEFINITELY get our novel finished in ICELAND.
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In my case, it's lazy. And I don't nurture anybody's creativity in my job. I think my job is more of a creativity stifling enterprise, actually. But I do work with the public.
The word veri is strangely appropriate: dweadis
Personally, I can’t imagine trying to write your own stuff after working at a literary agency all day. It sounds a little like moonlighting in a slaughterhouse to pay your way through culinary school.
I got out of journalism cause it was impossible to stay slumped over a desk cranking out words all day long. Now I work in a bookstore, which is kind of a good spur ("This sucks! I can do better!").
I dunno, my problem with retail/food service was hating what I was doing mixed with coming home so exhausted I was useless until the next shift.
My brief stint editing fiction was ended by said retail/food service job. I liked it at the time, simply didn't have enough energy/time to devote to it. Paying the Bills took priority over Experience in Job I Want.
Hoping to try the whole publishing thing again as an intern, where I'll get a better idea on how I like it.
LOL at the OPP comment. I totally got you! My day job pretty much stifles all my creativity in addition to my will to live so I understand where you are coming from. Best of luck to both of us for figuring it out.
After I finished my PhD, I was offered a number of swanky post-doc appointments. I turned them all down to work at a bookstore. Science consumed me mind, body, and soul. In contrast, the bookstore is soothing - it's easy work, I'm surrounded by things I love (books, not people), and my brain is free for writing. Plus, it's a fabulous way to keep up with the markets and consumer trends. Not to mention networking with people who will sell my book someday...
I'm a reporter and editor at a mid-sized daily so I spend eight hours a day either writing or fixing other peoples' writing. Makes it hard to want to come home and spend more hours typing at a computer. Is it bad that I'd rather catch up on Netflixed episodes of Mad Men with a glass of red wine than work on my novel? Head says yes; lazy butt says no...
I have similar laments after working in software design all day. Sitting in a desk all day might be a breeze for the body, but meshing the ridiculous needs of ten internal customers with a sensible product is mentally exhausting.
Maybe we (the collective we) should all take a tip from Gollum and move to caves, where we (the royal we) may all be more devious... err, creative.
@Anna Claire I LOVE Bernard's Letter! (okay, I know that isn't what you meant, but he _is_ a mad man _with_ a glass of red wine :) )
Well, I own a bookstore and still write a lot. But then I write AT work. It's nice being the boss. Of course, the store is closing. Back to the drawing board.
I hope you do write a book. If it's half as entertaining as your blog, I want it. Now.
You're RIGHT! what we need is a TRUST FUND!!!!!!
if we all would have just realized how helpful a trustfund would be a little SOONER.
I don't know. I teach English at a public high school in Brooklyn, and I can't write after work at all. I write at 4:30 in the morning instead! (That is, when I can drag my ass out of bed.) Also: one can write A LOT on summer vacation. And the job supplies too much material for me to quit at this point, plus benefits and a halfway decent salary, so...
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