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Thursday, 08 August 2024

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I did read the last post but it was too long. I guess that makes it tl/dr. My problem was I found it old news, we all bring our history to anything we experience, my history just wasn’t helpful to your cause, sorry.

We all face our own battles. Some say, "Everyone's fighting something." I grew up feeling like I was placed in the wrong box straight out of the factory, navigating an off-centered childhood where the environment was cold and the milk jug was always empty.

It was through my previous marriage that I came to understand who I am. I’m a happy workaholic who doesn’t sleep well. While I wish I could change the sleep part, I’ve accepted it and found that living alone suits me best.

My therapist once told me it took her two years of weekly sessions before I finally opened up. Still, I committed to therapy for many years, and it was worth it. Sometimes, a good friend comes in the form of someone you have to pay.

You are a beautiful person with so much to offer the world. The more I read your words, the more I want to hear. Keep doing what you’re doing; the best is yet to come.

I quite enjoyed “A Curious Thing About a Book” (you know there are several ways to parse that)
I quite enjoyed the comments too, although I didn’t really have time to make a meaningful comment. It was a day of intermittent availability of my iPhone and that was about it. I got about halfway through a rather shaggy francophone dog comment on the death of the author put my thumb sort of failed halfway through so I substituted a Barth name check.

I’d by fine with a mix of pieces ( content is an ugly word I think ) like that, some historical explorations of the intersection of art, commerce and technology, for example how the eleven Robert Capa shaped the idea of authentic photography, or the idea of authenticity in representation generally when their appearance was shaped by commercial considerations as much as anything. I just had a show of photos from CBGB and Studio 54 in the 70s that emulated that look because people thought it was more realistic. I can’t remember what I was thinking, current me thinks old me was kind of a jerk. Intersperse with something like the history of the lens and billiard balls and I’d be happy.

Way too many "not better" days lately for me. I'm really, really glad to read that you're "largely over your depression", Mike. My sincerest wishes you can remove the "largely" before too long. Wishing you peace.

[And you, Mike. --Mike]

For me "Curious" is the best thing that you have written in a long time.
The drunk driver story is hilarious and so outlandish it must be true!

As a former runner, you’ll get this analogy: The majority of long runs should be run at an easy pace. Save challenging paces for shorter distances. Planned recovery days are wise, but a forced recovery day because of running too long or too hard is not ideal. Conserving energy will help you run more often and feel more energized.

Come race day, not every run is going to win gold, but we’re all glad you’re on the road.

Sean

Goldang it, sucked me in with clickbait!

Having taught technical writing for years, and having edited many documents (including my own), I can emphatically call bull**** on Stephen King's claim that a good writer can write 2,000 words a day. Sure, a writer can bang out that many words--but what percentage of them are worth reading? The most important part of writing is not the initial word dump, but what the writer does with that dump once it has been written. Such an accomplished writer should know better than to equate quantity with quality.

Give me a tightly written piece any day. I'm well past the point at which a long document or a quickly-produced document will impress me.

I wish you would stop apologizing. The last article was so great.

Anxiety is such a life killer. My husband was diagnosed with liver cancer during the pandemic. I had to stay in a hotel in Boston while he was treated and go out for meals as they cancelled room service. I had such a panic attack, I thought it was a heart attack. I was terrified of giving him covid. He fully recovered, is doing great, but my anxiety stayed at an increased level. After getting a prescription for it, I found myself sitting at home, my mind a total blank. After a week, I realized I didn’t know how to think without anxiety. I no longer had the constant negative thoughts about myself that I’ve had my whole life.

I know this is tmi, and feel free, of course, to delete it, but it made such a difference in my life.

Sharon

seems like the entire "Curious" article could have been condensed to: "You can't step into the same stream of water twice..."

2000 words a day? "That's not writing, that's typing."*
"Which it'll be ready when it's ready."**
You're doing fine. Keep up the good, and thoughtful, work.

*Truman Capote, speaking of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road"
**the captain's servant Preserved Killick, in the novels of Patrick O'Brian

Nobody with common sense pays attention to how many words another writer can put down in a day. King probably does do 2,000 -- he writes a lot of books, and they're fat. Annie Dillard, who wrote "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" and later "The Writing Life" implies in the latter book that days of effort may not get her anywhere at all. She says that a book takes between two and ten years to write, and her books are thin. I've written so far 58 novels and two non-fiction books, plus some short stories and journalism. I generally try for about 1,500 words a day, which I can get if I don't have to invent anything that day (if I know where I'm going with a story.) Other writers I've talked to are all over the place. One of them writes outlines so long that he only has to fill in a few thousand words to have a novel, which seems odd to me, but, he does well with it. Like no other kind of work that I can think of, (financially successful) writers seem to share almost no common characteristics. Male, female, young, old, all races...Delia Owens was 70 years old when she published "Where the Crawdads Sing," one of the most successful books of recent years. Some write one or two very good books and then disappear; others write dozens. Nora Roberts has published 277 novels, and the ones I've read, I've liked. So...how many words you get down in a day is relatively meaningless, unless, of course, you write a blog that has to be refreshed all the time. Then you're screwed.

You might consider in your writing here that “perfection is the enemy of good/progress”. For my own reading here, I am looking for general content that’s interesting and correct. I’m not looking for perfection in presentation. I understand your own desire for things to be “right”. I fight my own inclination to spend twice as much time/energy to get from 90% to 95% as I spend getting from 0 to 90%.

Way too many "not better" days lately for me. I'm really, really glad to read that you're "largely over your depression", Mike. My sincerest wishes you can remove the "largely" before too long. Wishing you peace.

[And you, Mike. --Mike]

Thank you, Mike. You're a good soul.

I am currently leading a team that is editing and re-drafting an International Convention; one that exerts control over an element of a surprising proportion of the entire planet’s GDP. Some good days we get 150 words done. As usual “well, I guess that depends”.

Voltz

John Camp is a very bad man:-)

I don't know much. But I know this. You need to spend quality meaningful time with friends.

If you don't have any, cultivate some.

Far more practical and useful than anyone you'll converse with electronically.

Be brave. I dare you.

I think writing is like raking Fall leaves into piles and picking out two or three for closer study later…

I assume that your “good source” was Will Hunting’s good buddy who-in the movie Good Will Hunting-told the exact same story to his drinking buddies, insisting that it was a true story.

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