Robb Lightfoot

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Robb Lightfoot

Goodreads Author


Born
in Oildale, The United States
April 22

Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences
New Journalism, Ring Lardner, Kurt Vonnegut, Bill Bryson, Nora Ephron, ...more

Member Since
February 2013

URL


My storytelling career began in kindergarten. Mother made a deal with Mrs. Berry, my teacher. "Don't believe what he says happens at home and I won't believe what he says happens at school."

In first grade, I spent much of my time in the principal's office. Poor Mr. Lewis tried to convey the finer points of classroom etiquette... wait until you're called upon was his main message. But there's always so much to talk about! Today, in addition to writing, I get paid to talk--I teach speech, debate and literature-in-performance.

My first paid writing gig was as a reporter at The Bakersfield Californian, and I learned to write under deadline pressure. I was lucky enough to get coaching from editors of the New Journalism school that favored colorfu
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Robb Lightfoot Not always well. Most of my block comes from just letting life get me too busy to write. I have bills to pay, and I'm not yet where writing does that.…moreNot always well. Most of my block comes from just letting life get me too busy to write. I have bills to pay, and I'm not yet where writing does that. When I do break through, it's usually a matter of sitting down and doing what Anne Lammott says: Allow yourself to write shitty first drafts. In fact, it's not a matter of letting it happen. For me, it's usually the ONLY way it can happen. Once I have something on paper, then it can me massaged. My friends tell me that I write fast (but not always well) some of this comes from being hyperactive and some of it comes from being a former newspaper reporter and learning to turn SOMETHING in on deadline.

As to being hyperactive. I have not been diagnosed, but I have all the symptoms of family members who have. I drink gallons of coffee because it calms me, and I find it hard to site down for more that short stretches. Professionally, I am a speech teacher, and I find that after 10 minutes of listening to a speech I want to--and do--bounce up to the front of the room to have a brief discussion with the class about what they just heard.

This restlessness goes as far back as I can remember. I had my own special desk in the principal's office, and went there almost every day because I was talking in class. Learning to write allowed me to channel some of this in a way that I quit talking so much, but it makes for tons of journals. These are not really suitable for publication. But they do make me think about things that CAN be helpful. I used the Julia Cameron method of journal writing for a number of years--even studied under her for a weekend at Esalen. But I find that journal writing can get in the way of my regular writing.

When I'm writing fiction with an intent to publish, I have to be in character, and this character must be walking around in a space I know or am learning about. Just writing about how much I hate my wife's minivan isn't going to get me into my story world. I have to have a problem that I'm working out. The classic elements of comedy can all be brought to bear, but it must start with "something goes wrong."

So, my advice is pick a problem, inflict it one someone, and start writing. I think this is true even for non-fiction.(less)
Robb Lightfoot It's hard to name just one best thing, but for me it's the dream-like state I get in when I'm really in the zone. I get to create a dream world and cr…moreIt's hard to name just one best thing, but for me it's the dream-like state I get in when I'm really in the zone. I get to create a dream world and crawl into it for a while. This world can be that of an idealized recollection, one that turns pain into laughter, or one that has me saying the witty things I wish I'd said at the right moment. Soon, I hope to launch a science fiction series that will allow me to crawl into a world where some people have powers that allow them to take advantage of others. I want to explore what that would do to a person and to the society in which they live.(less)
Average rating: 3.84 · 63 ratings · 28 reviews · 16 distinct works
The Doggone Christmas List ...

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Or So It Seems ... The Stup...

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Potholes On Memory Lane

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Problem Child - The View Fr...

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More books by Robb Lightfoot…

DecodingComedy.com

Is This Channel for You? Do you do stand-up and want to do better? Do you write humorous stories and want to tighten them up? Are you working on a novel and want to pull that Shakespearean trick—making someone laugh for a […]

The post DecodingComedy.com first appeared on RobbLightfoot.com.

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Published on September 04, 2025 08:38
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Bailey White
“I have the sick fantasy that whatever I see at the movies is going to happen to me at home. My bladder capacity increased tenfold after I saw "The Shining" because I was sure that if I went into the bathroom late at night, there would be a dead woman in the bathtub.”
Bailey White, Mama Makes Up Her Mind and Other Dangers of Southern Living
tags: humor

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“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
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“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
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“Come to the edge," he said.
They said, "We are afraid."
Come to the edge," he said.
They came.
He pushed them...and they flew.”
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