Ask the Author: Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
Answered Questions (7)
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
As a dyed-in-the-wool Arthurian romance geek, I'd bend towards Percival and Condwiramours -- I find a sweetness and naivete to their relationship that belies some actual depth on the part of both partners.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
Difficult to answer, since my latest book is the product of over a decade of smaller projects. I never sat down with the intention of writing political comedy -- I was repeatedly hired to write comedy, and what came out was various forms of political dissatisfaction. Twelve years of that is apparently enough to produce a book -- one that represents a cumulative state of mind. I hope that I'm unique *unique* in my particular discontent, but many 24-hour news cycles suggest that I am.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
Great art is depressing -- I look at it and mourn my own lack of native ability. No, what truly inspires me is *terrible fucking art*. Looking at something wholly incompetent, and saying "I get what they're trying to do! But the smart way to do it would be *this*" -- yeah. My impulse to create is almost entirely negative. It's about fleeing things like insecurity and self-loathing. On my best days, it's about pursuing something greater. Best days are rare.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
At this particular moment? I'm answering these questions to procrastinate on writing for a webseries, two storytelling sets, a one-minute play festival, a radio comedy, and a one-man show. Beyond those deadline-driven projects, my heart currently lies in an anachronistic adaptation of a brooding medieval epic, but if history is any indication that will take at *least* another eight years to come to fruition.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
...don't? There's simply no good reason to do this. It's an intensely frustrating and usually unsatisfying path. Honestly, I think there's just a unique chemical imbalance that lends itself to this kind of work, that also neatly precludes proficiency at just about anything else. If you share that imbalance, my condolences.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
Um. Unconvinced that I've found it yet. It forces me to think critically about my observations, rather than passively absorbing them, which probably improves me on some nebulous metaphysical level. Once in a blue moon, somebody will recognize me and buy me a drink, which is exactly the level of fame that I'm comfortable with. Both of these seem to be poor recompense for a life of total financial instability, however.
Phillip Andrew Bennett Low
I desperately wish that there was some kind of short cut or cheat code past this, but if there is, it utterly eludes me. In my experience, the solution is to sit down in front of a word processor and cut yourself off from the outside world (i.e. don't answer your phone, don't surf the net for anything other than research). If that means staring at a blank screen for three hours, that's what it means, though I generally find that you find something to type beyond the initial terror. I'm generally more likely to find inspiration there than I am watching television or playing video games.
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