Life is School

I talked in my last newsletter about how I've been struggling to write a silly, funny picture book. I've been working every day, doing my best to create new stories, and still somehow everything I write is gloomy.

I wrote what I thought was a hilarious story, sent it to my writing group, and Carter wrote back and said, "I like it, but it made me really sad." Which was not the vibe I was going for at all. 

In retrospect, I should have seen how dreary it was. I put the main character and her best friend in a shed, and then had the shed catch on fire. Not exactly the silly fun romp I meant to write.

I knew what the culprit was. It was my own gloomy brain. Every morning I read the newspaper, and every morning it puts me in a terrible mood. Then I pay attention to the news all day, because I want to be informed, and it makes me sad. No wonder I couldn't write frivolity.

Have you listened to Elizabeth Gilbert's wonderful Magic Lessons podcast, where she helps people who are struggling to live a creative life? There's a great episode where she talks to a woman who wanted to be a comedy writer, but somehow along the way got a PhD in Holocaust Studies.

That's all of us, right now. We're trying to find the joy in the world, and we're majoring in Gloomotronics.

Austin Kleon talks about it in Steal Like an Artist, in a section called Garbage In, Garbage Out. "You're only going to be as good as the stuff you surround yourself with." I've been surrounding myself with dreary sadness, and it's for sure affecting my output.

It was time to take a drastic step.

I am changing my input.

I believe that life is learning, that life continues to be school even after you graduate. And it's up to you to create your own syllabus and pick your own professors. If you want to create X, then set up a semester of input that inspires you to create your very best X.

I am reading and watching things that make me laugh, and that inspire me to create funny stories. I'm studying these things, figuring out why I think they're funny, picking apart threads of the humor and reweaving them into my own words. I pulled a stack of books that are functioning as my textbooks for this semester (see the photo above). I'm watching Monty Python and Kids in the Hall, and listening to My Brother, My Brother and Me, Good One, and Judge John Hodgman. This class I made up has a ton of weekly reading, and even more weekly writing, but it's what I need right now (also, to be honest, I haven't actually planned anything other than "here are the books, read them a lot, write a lot" but if I start to stray from this plan, I will create an actual written syllabus, darnit).

I still read the newspaper in the morning, but mostly only the headlines, and I'm skimming for the stories that make me smile, and hope. 

So far it's working. I'm working on a few different stories, and they're all noticeably sillier than my previous 2018 output. I'll let you know how it goes. What books and media are in your life/artist syllabus right now?

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No Boring Stories is available now! Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, saying "this intelligent comedy offers substance alongside the laughter," and named it to the list of best books of 2018 (the picture book list goes live on Monday).

Booklist says, "The simple but sophisticated cartoon-style illustrations elevate the humor of the clever text. Delving into the writing process, the value of collaboration, and unexpected friendship, this story is great fun for would-be writers of any age."