“The worst thing I think I’ve done for myself when being unable to write anything is to wait for the feeling to pass. I’m a quitter. I give up easily when I can’t see a clear way out. That being said there are two things that I know will keep me going if there isn’t anything else, and that is spite and humor. If I can’t find a way to write in spite of myself or against something that has made me feel debilitated in some way (large or small scale, writers are not so big as to not be petty), than I try to approach writing like I approach the permanence of tattoos: if you can find the joke first you’ll probably like it forever. I keep a bookmark folder of articles, images, videos, etc., of things that I try to draw inspiration from, and usually I’ll keep the resources well after the piece has managed to exit my head. Why do I have an article about ‘the cat parasite that can infect humans’ saved? Who is to say. When writing seems so far from attainable, I go back to what can keep my interest, what at my core drives me more than anything else. Spite and humor. I’ll keep going because I have to, and if I have to, I’ll at least try and make myself laugh first.”
—Aeon Ginsberg, author of Greyhound (Noemi Press, 2020)
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Author: jkashiwabara