The Thursday! Newsletter 1-33: The Imperfect Podcast Guest Strikes Again!

Volume 1, Issue 33

I was a guest on a great podcast this week. 

You can listen to it right here.

Let me say, first, that the podcast was great before I got there. Write Now is, as far as I'm concerned, the best podcast on the subjects of writing and creativity in existence. Let the rest of them fight it out for third place (because A Beautiful Anarchy is second) but they don't get the top spot. Sarah earned that and she beats the competition down every week, without even trying to do so.

However, once she let me in the door, I ran into a bit of a problem. I know I can get awfully wound up when I talk about the things I love. I go a mile a minute with my hair on fire, grabbing everyone in my path so they can come along for the ride. I tend to get enthusiastic about my passions. And storytelling is a passion. Back when I had my own podcast, I could get as outspoken as I wanted. I could yell and whoop and ramble to my heart's content. As a guest, though, I can never be sure quite how much is too much. And Sarah's show isn't known for its whooping and rambling show. She has dignity and class. 

Still, Sarah told me she wanted me to be me. So I was. For good or ill. We laid down a lot of solid talk about fun, creativity, feedback, Chekhov's Werewolf, and Happy Buffalos. I guarantee you won't hear any other writing podcast like that. 

When we were done, though, my Inner Critic had a few days to review the matter. You can imagine how well that went, right? I worried for days about whether I was too much. I had stress dreams about getting mountains of rotten, critical comments. I apologized to her at least a dozen times for...well...being me. I even gave serious thought to asking her not to release the episode at all. 

Crazy, huh? Here's where my Inner Critic plays me for a sucker. He focuses on how I set myself apart from the crowd then makes sleazy little insinuations about how maybe I set myself apart in a bad way. After all, how can I know folks will think until they actually weight in and by then it'll be too late? They will probably think I suck and that I'm way too much, my Inner Critic will hiss like the low-down and dirty snake he is. I was too much me and me is not a thing the world can possibly love. 

Of course I bought into at least some of that because, even though I know my Inner Critic never plays fair and never wants me to extend myself enough to truly succeed, I'm also a sucker for his rationalizations. But I forgot something important! 

Fun is way better than perfect. 

Let me say that louder for the people in the back. 

FUN IS WAY BETTER THAN PERFECT!

By the end of the show (which, by the way, is the closest to Full Jimmie I've been in public in a long time), we had leaned so far into that idea that we would have fallen over if someone had grabbed it from under us. Take all the feedback you get and shove it into having fun with whatever creative thing you do. Take all your ideas and run them through the "would I enjoy doing this" filter. Take that Very Serious Novel you're writing and ask yourself when it last made you smile (Hint: If it doesn't make you happy, it won't make anyone else happy either, and if you can't make someone happy, you sure as heck can't make them think about your Very Important Idea). 

There are plenty of writers who want you to believe that writing is pain and travail, plenty who will tell you if you're having fun you're doing it wrong. I say to blazes with that. I'll say it here and I'll say to to their faces if the opportunity ever arises: Have fun with your art. Be good. Be moral. Change the world. Make money. Inspire. Admonish. Teach. Train. Share a beautiful place or time. Do all those things but first have fun. 

Okay. One caveat. I don't mean that every single moment of creation should be a laugh riot. You're not The Joker (Caesar Romero, by the way. The finest Joker ever.) The world is more about putting your head down and getting your work done than about uplifting moments of transcendent joy. There will be tough times. Can't help them. You'll run into creative obstacles and fall into ruts and hit bumps so hard they rattle your bones. That is life. But. You're allowed to do your work with a smile and a song. You're allowed to make a little piece of happiness and share it with others. We do forget that. I know I forget that. I get all wrapped up in the drudgeries of work and the sorrows of friends who grow old and get sick and with bouts of depression and despair. There's a lot of crap to deal with.

Fun is better. You can always make a little piece of glee and chuck it into the world and see who catches it and gets the delight you shared. 

That's what I did. I sat down with my friend and, for a little bit over an hour, we had fun. When we were done, we shared it with anyone who wants to listen. We were not perfect. I, particularly, was far from perfect. Doesn't matter. Had fun. 

Now you, okay? To heck with perfect and the inner critic. Have fun. Let us see.
 

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What I Wrote and Read Last Week

• It's possible more will come from “Two Boots Hung Off a Post Outside Farnham, VA”, but maybe not. You never know!

• The older I get, the more I crave times of silence. I'm not sure if that's because I'm getting older or because I've used social media platforms for so long that they are no longer new and cool and I can see the shabby wanna-be wizards who stir behind the curtains.

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One Last Thing

This is where I ask you to help me out. I don't like asking for help but there's no way I can share Thursday! far and wide without wonderful people like you who dig what I do and are willing to tell other people about it. Please, feel free to share this or any past newsletter with anyone you think will love it like you do. You can also buy or share my cool book, give it a solid review, or get an autographed copy (ask and I'll tell you how!).

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