tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post6242539024479468013..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: EnvyKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-75303128967966851312013-12-02T11:54:45.266+00:002013-12-02T11:54:45.266+00:00I envy that you have a well written, well read, an...I envy that you have a well written, well read, and popular blog. I've written for a few years on a blog, but nothing like the amount, or the depth of articles. <br /><br />I find that the thing about envy is that it's convenient and in a sense lazy. It's easier to envy someone than it is to put in the hard work that so often is needed for these things. I at times envy Leonard Cohen, but he has spent many many years of his life on single songs, he started from nothing and inch by inch worked his way up. Bach said "Anyone that has put the amount of work in that I have can reasonably expect to reach my level of success," and looking at the treatment that Bach got even at his highest level of success there are many un-enviable aspects that we tend to gloss over and ignore. <br /><br /><br /> Alexander Trouphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16976600395414664343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-75226991079870787682013-12-01T20:59:10.144+00:002013-12-01T20:59:10.144+00:00Thanks Claire. Envy can be destructive too, a doub...Thanks Claire. Envy can be destructive too, a double-edged sword to be wielded with care, I think.<br /><br />Dear Jim, Nobody's got it perfect, we both know that. I guess, if we can squeeze a few words out the imperfection then we're not doing so bad.<br /><br />And don't imagine that I don't see, in among the wonderful curmudgeonly tone of your comment, your natural generosity of spirit. I do. Thanks. And the blog post you pointed to is excellent. Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-3845815659044639222013-12-01T17:52:51.905+00:002013-12-01T17:52:51.905+00:00We have no idea what other people have to go throu...We have no idea what other people have to go through to get their writing done. And when we start to imagine how other writers cope I suppose it’s only human to think they’re all having an easier time of it than we are, that they’re better at it than us. And some of them will be. That’s life. Facebook drains me. Everyone (at least it seems like everyone) is always doing stuff, promoting stuff, meeting people, being enthusiastic and it just wears me down. I wrote a novella at the start of the year. It took me five weeks—which is nothing, I know—and I dutifully posted the news, accepted the dozen (I’m guessing here and probably rounding up) likes, the two or three “well done yous” and that was me. Old news. Next! Nothing lasts for any length of time on Facebook—Warhol’s fifteen minutes has shrunk to fifteen seconds—but the constant drip drip drip never ends. It’s like Chinese water torture! Am I envious though? Yes. I’m fluorescent green with envy of anyone with energy. I have very little stamina. And the bouts of brain fog can be every bit as debilitating. So I’m jealous of anyone, even those who can work for fifty or fifty hours (exactly like I did for years on end) and then have enough left in the tank to come home and write (as I used to do). Of course I suffered from burnout every seven or eight years and probably all these people I’m oh so jealous off are well along that track themselves but not in my mind. In mind they’re all coping just fine and everything is easy peasy for them. Because I don’t know. I only imagine. I believe the hype and the blurb and trust the cheery messages on Facebook. <br /><br />I envy you. You have plays on the go. You have a book circulating the literary agents and publishers of Ireland and the UK and it’s only a matter of time before you announce that you’ve been picked up by Penguin with an undisclosed six-figure advance and a three book deal. See! I’m jealous of things you’ve not even done. Of course I’d be the first to congratulate you if you did swing a book deal and I’d immediately add “long-time friend of successful author Ken Armstrong” to my bio and change the tagline on my blog to same.<br /><br />Writers are terrible. On the one hand we want to see who can pee the furthest while on the other we’re looking for rules on how to write properly. We love to see photos of writers’ workspaces thinking: <i>If only I could persuade the wife to let me convert our bedroom into an office like</i> [insert name of favourite author here] <i>and swap our couch for a bed-settee then all my problems would be solved.</i> Ah, yes, if only. I did so much better when I wrote on my own. I’m not saying I hate the company of other writers but they take from me far more than I get in return. But I keep reading their posts on Facebook and liking them and adding witty comments (when I can think of them timeously) all the time wondering what they’re doing on their side of the screen. Probably getting on with their latest novel.<br /><br />I don’t know if you follow my blogs on McVoices but if not you should have a read at my last one on <a href="http://mcvoices.weebly.com/18/post/2013/11/understanding.html" rel="nofollow">understanding</a>. I think you might be able to relate.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-40715049172316177892013-12-01T13:37:52.445+00:002013-12-01T13:37:52.445+00:00envy (not begrudgery) can be a great tool to motiv...envy (not begrudgery) can be a great tool to motivate people to achieve great things. Claire Boyleshttp://www.success-matters.comnoreply@blogger.com