“Writer’s are, let’s face facts, a small, sometimes sickly, bunch who do their work in the dark surrounded by Simpsons action figures and only the occasional hours of Wii and Guitar Hero for any kind of break…”
Jon Stewart
The Daily Show
January 7th 2008
So I have discovered something quite strange recently regarding the creative process. J. Michael Straczynski once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that once you decide to become a writer, you are screwed. And the reason why is because you will see a great movie and think, “Will I ever write something this good?” And you will see bad movies and think, “This is getting made but my stuff sits on a shelf?”
And in my time spent as a full time father, I discovered that in a job such as that, there is never a day off. You are constantly on the clock.
I have recently discovered that with my writing, the wheels are always turning. I think about it during my 9-to-5 job. I think about it while driving in the car. It seems like I am always on the clock, turning over scenes, generating dialogue and thinking about my next project.
But to quote another old adage, you can’t squeeze blood from a stone. A few weeks ago, I was under a deadline that I was terrified of. I was always telling myself, “Let’s write one more page” or “Let’s do one more panel.” And to make sure that I stayed on track, I denied myself a lot of distracting elements. The most notable of this was unplugging my XBOX 360. (Damn Lara Croft and her adventures into ancient crypts!)
But then I discovered something. Writing is not like working a 9-to-5 job. I attempted it on one of my days off from my regular job and after six hours, my brain turned into pudding. I felt like I had just taken the ACTs.
As it turns out, those turns at the XBOX or watching an episode of My Name is Earl is important. You have to take breaks. I think this why progressive and artistic companies like PIXAR have paper airplane flying contests or some companies have pool tables and video game machines in their break rooms.
When it comes to creative jobs, you need stuff like that.
The difference is my XBOX is not a distraction. It recharges my batteries. But this is also why I will be writing at six in the morning and at nine o’clock at night. The pull of that keyboard is way too strong.
Reading a good comic or a book only makes me want to write. It makes we want to do what they are doing. So half an hour spent playing Assassin’s Creed actually brings me back to the computer better and stronger.
And even if that means being on the clock seven days, strangely, I don’t seem to mind.
I guess that is the truest sign of having a job that you love…
Jon Stewart
The Daily Show
January 7th 2008
So I have discovered something quite strange recently regarding the creative process. J. Michael Straczynski once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that once you decide to become a writer, you are screwed. And the reason why is because you will see a great movie and think, “Will I ever write something this good?” And you will see bad movies and think, “This is getting made but my stuff sits on a shelf?”
And in my time spent as a full time father, I discovered that in a job such as that, there is never a day off. You are constantly on the clock.
I have recently discovered that with my writing, the wheels are always turning. I think about it during my 9-to-5 job. I think about it while driving in the car. It seems like I am always on the clock, turning over scenes, generating dialogue and thinking about my next project.
But to quote another old adage, you can’t squeeze blood from a stone. A few weeks ago, I was under a deadline that I was terrified of. I was always telling myself, “Let’s write one more page” or “Let’s do one more panel.” And to make sure that I stayed on track, I denied myself a lot of distracting elements. The most notable of this was unplugging my XBOX 360. (Damn Lara Croft and her adventures into ancient crypts!)
But then I discovered something. Writing is not like working a 9-to-5 job. I attempted it on one of my days off from my regular job and after six hours, my brain turned into pudding. I felt like I had just taken the ACTs.
As it turns out, those turns at the XBOX or watching an episode of My Name is Earl is important. You have to take breaks. I think this why progressive and artistic companies like PIXAR have paper airplane flying contests or some companies have pool tables and video game machines in their break rooms.
When it comes to creative jobs, you need stuff like that.
The difference is my XBOX is not a distraction. It recharges my batteries. But this is also why I will be writing at six in the morning and at nine o’clock at night. The pull of that keyboard is way too strong.
Reading a good comic or a book only makes me want to write. It makes we want to do what they are doing. So half an hour spent playing Assassin’s Creed actually brings me back to the computer better and stronger.
And even if that means being on the clock seven days, strangely, I don’t seem to mind.
I guess that is the truest sign of having a job that you love…
No comments:
Post a Comment