So, I've been writing. A lot. And as I've been writing I've been tempted to tweet things about it. Which makes me wonder, why do we, as writers, love our crazy so much we want to share it with the world?
For example, nearly every writer I know occasionally tweets or posts about how they haven't showered in [blank] days, and they are still in their pajamas for the [blank] day in a row. Now, at what point does this stop being admirable ("Oh, man! That's dedication!") and sympathetic ("Yes, I've so been there!") and become just plain gross? If I were to say, "I haven't showered in two days, but I've got 10k words to show for it!" I think that's still acceptable. Three days? Four days? Five? Frankly I wonder why we're ever eager to brag about our smelly, greasy exploits, but the fact remains that the unshowered writer is, to a certain point, a thing of pride. (For the record, I showered last night. My goal is to never become so stinky that you can smell me through the internet.)
We also talk frequently about our eating/drinking habits while writing. Myself, I turn into a sugar monster. If this is me regularly:
Peaceful No Face, enjoying the view from the bridge and not thinking about its next meal/sugar fix/caffeine jolt.*
Then this is me while I'm on a drafting/editing binge:
SUGAR! I NEED MORE SUGAR! GIVE ME MORE SUGAR!!! WHAT ELSE CAN I EAT?
But why am I compelled to admit this? I know it's not healthy or admirable. I fully plan on detoxing as soon as I finish this draft. However, there's still a part of me that is compelled to tell people: "Look at this! I'm crazy while I'm writing! Isn't this terrible? It's GREAT!"
Sleep is another favorite topic of ours. Or rather, lack of sleep. Although I don't do all-night writing like some (I still have a day job. A day job that demands I get up when they do and actually feed them and interact with them and stuff), I do have a harder time getting to/staying asleep while I'm actively drafting. But, again, why do I feel compelled to tell you this? It's not actually interesting. Still, when I can't get my characters to shut up while I'm trying to fall asleep I get all excited about it and want to tell someone.
Finally, we love to fly our Bad Parents flags with pride. Just the other day I was all set to tweet, "Signed up for Netflix! I'll never have to entertain my kids in an enriching way again!" Then I thought, "What the CRAP am I thinking? A) That's terrible, B) It's not true (I'll only abuse it until I'm done with this draft, promise), and C) THAT'S TERRIBLE." This one stems from guilt. We feel like bad parents and need someone to assure us that we're justified, so we tweet/blog/talk about what a crap job we're doing with our kids because we're writing so that other writers will jump on it and assure us that it's okay.
And I think that's what this all comes down to. Writing is a solitary, lonely pursuit. We interact more with the characters in our heads than we do with real people. We don't have traditional co-workers to gather around the water cooler and gossip with, so we find other ways to connect. Fortunately for us, our particular crazy habits forge a universal bond. We've all been sleep deprived and caffeine jolted. We've all been unwashed and clad in ragged-pajamas for way too many days. We've all eaten too much, or too little. We've all had guilt over neglecting the things that are most important in our lives while pursuing something that demands our attention RIGHT NOW.
Writers love talking about how we're crazy because, regardless of what you write, crazy is our common language. And we're all about connecting through language. So: when was the last time YOU showered?
*No Face is from Spirited Away, the brilliant and bizarre masterpiece of Hayao Miyazaki. I highly recommend watching it, along with most of Miyazaki's other films. Not only are they gorgeous visually, they're also an excellent showcase of non-traditional, non-Hollywood storytelling. You can learn a lot from them (and see why he's the number one inspiration of Pixar). And you can also see No Face vomit black tar all over the Bath House.
42 comments:
You always have such interesting posts. I forget sometimes how weird writers can seem to the rest of the world. In our world that's normal.
I showered just yesterday, and I plan on doing it again today. Any minute now, I SWEAR.
(But yes, I agree with you on all counts.)
First off, I LOVE that you put some reference to Spirited Away. :) A bit of Miyazaki geek here.
Also, it's nice to know and connect with other crazy people. Makes writing not so solitary and it makes it easier for me to keep going and not question my sanity. Ok, I still question my sanity, but it's nice to know there are others feeling the same :P
Also...it's been two days since my shower :P Been a bit on a writing sprint craze and I can't stop.
Lol about the reference to Spirited Away. LOVE Hayao Miyazaki!
I wish I could go into crazy-non-showering-writer mode, but I just can't. My OCD won't let me neglect anything. Hmm, that's probably why I'm such a slow writer!
It made my day to see No Face here! Watching Spirited Away was a life changing experience for me as a preteen.
Maybe I'm not crazy enough, but I always need to take a shower post-sleep in order to wake up. But then I just put on another pair of pajamas...
I'm fine with showering--OK I do skip once in a while--but not so great when it comes to putting on real clothes. Writing in yoga pants is so much more comfortable.
I can't think when I stink. I'm afraid my characters will stay away from me. So my maximum is 36 hours without a shower.
What always gets me out of my pajamas and into the bath is when it's time to pick up my kids from school. I have to shower even on carpool days, because I might see a teacher or fellow parent. :D
I think you hit it with the whole misery loves company thing. Also, it's nice to be able to say to my husband, "It's not just me. Here, look..."
And for the record, I showered this morning and am wearing actual clothes (which means I have things to do and won't be able to write until after the kids are in bed).
I definitely agree, crazy is a common theme among the writer-types. :) It bonds us.
And I showered this morning! Woot!
This reminds me I need to shower (don't worry, it's only been two days.) Thanks Kristen. lol
I think another reason for writers spouting their insanity, so people accept it as the norm so when writers are crazy in publib, people shrug and say "Meh, she's a writer."
Ya know, I was just thinking about this last night, and how I'd rather not be a Crazy Writer. I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, and I definitely find Crazy Tweets amusing (thanks, btw, you and Natalie and Stephanie have been so entertaining!), but at the end of the day, I like going to bed with my boyfriend and my dog, and I like not feeling like a zombie when I have to wake up, and I like not having shooting pains in my wrists and my back. Furthermore, I find that caffeine (or Five Hour Energy) have zero effect on me, so staying up late more than one night in a row is supremely miserable (physically painful, in fact).
I used to worry that this meant I could never be a writer, but I've come to peace with the fact that it just means I'll have to make sacrifices in other areas of my life. Case in point: I sacrificed my job! Lol. I will now be poor so that I can write at a gentle, steady pace each day. I will eat ramen for every lunch. I will decimate my savings (I'm using that word correctly!) and I will embarrass myself at parties when people ask what I do for a living and I have no answer.
Not the smartest idea, maybe... But then again, it's just a different kind of Crazy.
(Furthermore, I believe in myself, and while I may be poor/hungry/embarrassed for a little while, I do think I can make a career out of my writing!)
I guess you're right, Crazy is our common language. :)
Hee. I'll type for hours/days at a time, but I'll never neglect my shower. Eventually my own physical grossness would take over my mind and I wouldn't be able to write anymore. There have been a total of two days in my whole life that I didn't shower, and both those days I headed over to the river with a bar of soap in my hands. :)
Nice work, though. Those are some impressive numbers!
I showered about twenty minutes ago, in actual fact. Despite this being a snow day which means I have no reason to leave the house.
Your assertion that writing is lonely and we need to identify with others? Yup. Absolutely. I need people who speak my language...one that confirms the dialogue in my head is creativity and not a dissociative personality disorder.
I had a conversation about this with a friend the other day - how I am rarely bored despite that I rarely leave the house. I'm always plotting something....muhahaha!
Oh, and I force myself to shower and dress daily. Those two tasks on my part provide the illusion of normalcy for my husband.
No face!I love Spirited Away! Now I must dig out my dvd of it and watch it. Or maybe I'll watch Howl... whichever turns up first.
I think you said it absolutely right: crazy is a writer's language.
I often feel like tweeting when the people in my head don't shut up and when I have a break through, I HAVE TO SHARE. It's just so liberating to say it out loud, because being alone all day, I sometimes just need to tell someone, to feel connected even when I'm alone doing my own thing.
*grins*
I can't function without a shower. I don't know how people can!
But Mom Guilt...yeah, I've got a lot of that. And I'm happy to know I'm not alone!!
OVER 20,000 WORDS! WOO HOO!!!
I've showered every day since turning in Lola, thankyouverymuch. But . . . it's 1:45 pm, and I'm still wearing pajamas.
I think it's our way of saying: Please...somebody...anybody..tell me I'm not alone in my crazy writerness!
I am SO happy you referenced Miyazaki, which makes you all kinds of awesome.
I think students do the same thing! I just wrote a post about the "College Vortex" that sucks you in and makes you want to talk about lack of sleep/how many papers you have to write/the five novels you have to read and so on.
It's just a matter of being really invested in something, and so it's hard to think about anything else. Thankfully everyone has had that experience, so we can just nod and help push you along until you can see the light of day again.
Substitute 'disabled mother" for "kids" and you've got me in a nutshell. Most writing days, I have the "Huh. Maybe I should brush my teeth" moment (tho not during the week when the day job consumes me). That's it in a nutshell tho, we're writers w/worlds abounding in our heads and so when we come out of our caves, you just can't tell what's going to come out of mouths.
I LOVE SPIRITED AWAY! Well... I love all Miyazaki, but that was the first I ever saw.
No Face gives me nightmares, though. And now I'm going to have nightmares of authors with no faces.
It's so true!!! And you know what's funny? I love reading about other writer's CRAZY just as much as I do writing about my own! It's like we're united with our CRAZY!
Goodness, you actually stuck to that writing plan? I didn't think it could be done!
My writing habits are easy on the crazy, mostly because I have to drop off and pick up my kid at day care. By the time he's in bed, I'm too exhausted to even contemplate anything but listless surfing or tv (at 16 months, he still doesn't sleep much during the night. Man).
There's one exception, though, and that's the eating. As soon as my word doc is running, my jaw turns into some weird sort of grinder that must be fed, or else my teeth will get the worst of it. Munch munch munch. Crack, grind, grind. Preferably sweet stuff. But any stuff, really. Sigh. It's not good.
Showering's not my downfall because if I feel gross, I can't focus on *anything else*, writing included. But the sleep thing. Oh, the sleep thing. :(
The Unshowered Writer...funny. I'll have to tweet that.
My college daughter came over today. She said "What are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm in the exact same uniform as when you asked me that yesterday--sweats and a ponytail. Yes, I'm writing."
OH nice, gotta love Spirited Away. howl's was my fav ;) I cannot wait for the sequels to paranormalcy!
I'm so happy to bond with you via the crazies. Bad parenting through Netflix especially. My kids know their way around the instant Netflix menu system better than I do. Sad...yet also bonding!
I refuse to miss a shower. I love showers. In fact, if I had a water proof laptop, I'd do all my writing in there. My brain works best when soothed and entranced by warm pelting water.
Haha. It's not the hygiene that gets neglected due to my writing/surfing the net, it's the housework. When I discover a mountain of dirty laundry, or dishes in the sink I realize "Oh no! I have to be domestic now! Quick, before hubby sees how I've neglected everything!" But instead, I procrastinate b/c now I want to check out a few blogs to make sure I'm not the only one neglecting "important" things to pursue this thing called writing. And I'm always reassured. ;)
As an ear and a toenail in a bucket, I thank you for sharing my pain.
I definitely showered yesterday. And don't plan on doing so again until I workout later tonight...IF I can leave the MS alone for a while, that is.
Most days I've gone without showering: 2. (I can't stand the greasy feeling any longer than that.) Number of days out of the week I stay in my pajamas: at least 6. Number of days I've gone without once stepping out of the house: somewhere close to 8. Or 9. Truthfully, probably more.
My husband likes to point out all of this--and more--to me on a regular basis and scolds me for being such a recluse. I try telling him it's part of the job (one I haven't officially been offered, of course), but he doesn't buy it.
No one understands the pitfalls of being a writer like a fellow writer does. That's why we all like to marvel at the gruesome reality of it, I guess.
As wonderful and exciting as the outside world appears, it's just so much easier and more exciting to sit inside and write about it. The solitary confinement, I think, is what makes so many writers go crazy and inspires all those movies about crazy writers. Some days I feel like that's exactly where I'm headed...but I *really* hope not. ;-)
I'm proud to say I showered this morning!
I love your posts. They're always so creative and funny. I sometimes forget how weird writers must seem to other people--till I rant about my main characters to my brother, and he just looks at me, like, "Where did you come up with this/Why are you telling me this/Are you 100% sane?"
I love when I hear someone say I haven't showered because it makes me feel normal. Having said that, I'm usually to embarrassed to announce that I haven't showered. I definitely can do grunge well and have found myself saying shower,write, shower, write and writing wins out all of the time.
I also feel guilty when I'm writing and I look over and see one of my children watching tv or playing a video game. And as far as me being crazy, I like that I have the ability to say "Hey, I'm a writer, most of us our crazy in some small way. We have conversations with imaginary people hundreds of time a day, you'd be crazy too."
Maribeth
I love when I hear someone say I haven't showered because it makes me feel normal. Having said that, I'm usually to embarrassed to announce that I haven't showered. I definitely can do grunge well and have found myself saying shower,write, shower, write and writing wins out all of the time.
I also feel guilty when I'm writing and I look over and see one of my children watching tv or playing a video game. And as far as me being crazy, I like that I have the ability to say "Hey, I'm a writer, most of us our crazy in some small way. We have conversations with imaginary people hundreds of time a day, you'd be crazy too."
Maribeth
Um... Yesterday. But I will wash my hair tonight. I WILL! AND change out of the clothes that I've been wearing since... Yesterday.
:-/
Well put! And I showered this morning at 6 a.m., thank you very much.
Love No Face!
My day job doesn't facilitate most of the madness. And I'm a natural insomniac.
No crazy stories here.
But I'm working on it. ;)
You used Spirited Away to demonstrate your crazy. You really did. I thought I was the only one who did that. I am no longer alone! I luv U, Kiersten. You made a follower for life with this post, and Paranormalcy (which is patiently waiting on my ereader) now moves right to the top of the pile.
Wait--you mean, we're supposed to shower more often when we're not writing? CURSES! I knew I was messing up somewhere!
Your post is so, so true! A lot of what you state--how solitary writing is--is exactly why I often end up writing at Starbucks. At least there I can be surrounded by people while I'm alone. Um.
(Also,I have the day job that requires the interaction with small people, and the Netflix guilt. Yay me? :)
I agree--crazy IS our common language! Thank you so much for this post.
I've never seen Spirited Away (you've certainly roused my curiosity), but I have to say that one of the most visually breathtaking films I've ever seen has to be Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I don't care that the English voice-over acting is nowhere near Oscar caliber. I don't care that I had to haunt Final Fantasy wikis for weeks in order to understand the insanely complex back-story to which the film constantly refers. I just want to stare at all that amazing CGI hair blowing gently in the breeze. It's mesmerizing, I tell you.
-Christine from Arizona
I love being a writer, embracing the labels of crazy, eccentric, and weird. It's a lot easier to let the supposed insults roll off when you embrace the terminology!
I agree that we need to be careful we don't reinforce negative attitudes about hygiene and parenting, especially when we don't mean them.
As for showers, I showered this morning, played Dance Central, and showered again.
I'm a writer myself, and pretty dedicated... when did I last shower... two... maybe three days ago... now I don't tweet or facebook about it, that seems kind of gross, but I actually just now realized I do go a couple days without showering... I'm gonna go shower now.
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