Sweet, nuanced and often unreadable
on the perils of consistently creating content
Yesterday dear reader I spoke about the quest for the perfect gift for my wife.
Today?
She gave me the perfect gift - her time.
We were talking about this thing here - this foolsletter business that you read much of the time.
She told me that my tone shifts with my mood and compared my prolific nature to a comic she follows named Josh Johnson.
She’s watched his career and how he constantly pumped out material. He didn’t seem to have a consistent tone and then?
Then he started hitting it big. Then bigger. His tone solidified. As I sat with shame and envy, Laura continued:
Sometimes darlin’ you’re sweet and nuanced and I laugh at your stuff. And other times? You’re just angry and working stuff out.
I don’t want to hear any more hammer fights. Those posts? I skim.
I can see what you’re doing and love and respect you and there are times your tone doesn’t work for me.
Wow eh?
She’s pretty fucking generous.
So dear reader, I’m grateful that you’re here with me.
Most of all though?
I am grateful for my wife Laura.
While I go searching for a consistent tone that’s funny and cutting, there will be days that the writing here is inflammatory and angry. Anger is fertile. And so is horseshit. It has its place but tends to stink.
And you never should douse yourself in horseshit when putting on a show.
Unless of course your audience is kinky in a really gross way…
And all of this is a first draft.
But the lightness that I want in my work, that I promise and am searching for?
Well.
There will be days that I come up short.
But hey,
That is where I hope that some edits through a book might be helpful. I’m finally ready to stop pretending that I can do all of this alone.
And Laura? She can help me and love me and give me a big picture view. But she can’t edit my book. That’s not our role with each other.
Anyone know a decent literary agent, editor or publisher?
I think dear reader, after almost five years, it’s long past time to enlist some help.
I have no idea what I’m doing nor how this ‘search’ will work out.
But I guess that’s what’s most exciting about this next step.
Best of all though?
I know that I have my dearest love in my corner as I tilt at windmills and flail around as only I can.
Remember dear reader, life is like John Wayne Toilet Paper - it can be rough, it can be tough, but it doesn’t need to take shit off anyone.
I had given several formal written assignments this semester and many of my students have terrible writing habits. Some wrote like they were talking, some obviously did not read their work because the sentences were not sentences and some needed serious editing to tighten up the language. The overreaching impression was first draft vibes.
A student, in light conversation, mentioned that not everyone was happy about the constructive feedback. I was specific, writing "edit", "read out loud", "spelling" and "this part sounds like you are speaking-it's a formal report". The feedback was specific, actionable and was given with the intention of improving their performance in a workplace. The would have been happier with a "good job" and the same grade on the cover.
I get that. In a world of participation medals, winning, losing and a coach taking the time to offer insight to help you improve can feel foreign. My daughter has six years of art education and perhaps the most important thing she took from that is an appreciation for critique. We know that attention is the modern currency. It is the currency of social media influencers: likes, follows ans shares. It is also what we get from mentors. My students think a mentor is an older person who gets you jobs. Anyone can mentor you by providing thoughtful feedback and feedback requires attention. My daughter figured that out. She comes to me for feedback because I do not tell her that her work is fabulous. I tell her what I love about it, what missed having an impact on me and what possible changes could be explored if she chose to explore alterations. She knows the value of thoughtful critique and caring attention and she seeks it out.
You are blessed, Jim. Laura has patience and she loves you enough to critique your work in a kind, caring and insightful way. A way that required her to invest time in observing, imagining what could be and finding analogies to help explain why she thinks you should consider alterations.
She is a gift.
Merry Christmas