after that, read some SaFranko
I just discovered this great new interview with Mark SaFranko over at Decibel Magazine.
Here's an excerpt:
DM: What keeps you plugging away when you are alone in your room in silence all the time?
MS: As a product of the 60s one thing that sticks with me is that anything is possible. It's something that burns within. Sometimes people ask me what makes an artist and I say torment and torture. (Georges) Simenon said writing is a vocation of unhappiness. Maybe there's something that is unfulfilled in people who write.
I was lucky enough to interview Mark a few years ago, even before I'd read his novels, Hating Olivia and Lounge Lizard.
AK: In an online interview, you described the “monthly nut” as a huge obstacle to writing. Maybe to life itself. I’m pretty sure that implied a mortgage and most likely a wife and kids. And worse yet, I’m pretty sure this scene is being played out in New Jersey. So basically, what we need to know is how in hell did you ever write anything at all?MS: Yes, these days that scene is indeed being played out in Jersey. But I have an understanding wife, and she tends to leave me alone as long as I hold up my end of things. Same goes for my son. But to answer your question about how I did any writing, it’s really a matter of minutes, and I’m not being facetious. I recognized a long time ago that most of our time is wasted. If you want to write and you only have a matter of minutes every day, you have to use what you’ve got. The minutes add up and so does the work. You end up doing the best you can. It’s all you can do most of the time.Anyway, get off your ass and write this weekend. You won't regret it. After that, read some SaFranko.
Here's an excerpt:
DM: What keeps you plugging away when you are alone in your room in silence all the time?
MS: As a product of the 60s one thing that sticks with me is that anything is possible. It's something that burns within. Sometimes people ask me what makes an artist and I say torment and torture. (Georges) Simenon said writing is a vocation of unhappiness. Maybe there's something that is unfulfilled in people who write.
I was lucky enough to interview Mark a few years ago, even before I'd read his novels, Hating Olivia and Lounge Lizard.
AK: In an online interview, you described the “monthly nut” as a huge obstacle to writing. Maybe to life itself. I’m pretty sure that implied a mortgage and most likely a wife and kids. And worse yet, I’m pretty sure this scene is being played out in New Jersey. So basically, what we need to know is how in hell did you ever write anything at all?MS: Yes, these days that scene is indeed being played out in Jersey. But I have an understanding wife, and she tends to leave me alone as long as I hold up my end of things. Same goes for my son. But to answer your question about how I did any writing, it’s really a matter of minutes, and I’m not being facetious. I recognized a long time ago that most of our time is wasted. If you want to write and you only have a matter of minutes every day, you have to use what you’ve got. The minutes add up and so does the work. You end up doing the best you can. It’s all you can do most of the time.Anyway, get off your ass and write this weekend. You won't regret it. After that, read some SaFranko.
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