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May 28, 2005
Take that, comfort
From "The Writing Life," a feature in the Washington Post Book World, by novelist John Burdett:
"Get disoriented. Maybe your agonizing writer's block isn't agonizing enough. Your enemy is comfort."
I am writing today's entry from our basement. It is dark down here; in fact, I can barely see the keyboard. My padded chair has been replaced with a hard, unstable stool. Instead of black tea with milk I am drinking Mountain Dew from a dirty glass. I haven't showered for days. My skin itches. I am listening to the radio -- the best of the 80s, 90s, and today. My pants are a size too small. I have been subsisting entirely off of bologna and Cheeze-Its. Whenever I worry that I might be getting too comfortable I poke myself in the leg with a tack I keep nearby just for this purpose. I think it's working. It's hard to tell because I'm not wearing my glasses (helps with disorientation) so I can't actually read what I've written so far. But I'm willing to bet it's pretty darn good.
Also I've been practicing my intense, penetrating and slightly mysterious gaze. That'll come in handy when it's time for my jacket photo.
Posted by teb at May 28, 2005 11:35 AM