Ask the Author: Jon Zelig
Answered Questions (10)
Jon Zelig
I figured she had exaggerated (that’s what she always does, after all), not really possible that what she had said was remotely accurate—and therefore no reason for me to be at all afraid.
And then, whatever-the-hell-it-was slammed up against the bars—out of nowhere!—trying to get to me, and I had to scurry back to my office and both . . . “rethink my position,” and grab the bottle of scotch from my lower left desk drawer and slurp down a half-dozen Valium—not that that really helped, given what I was pretty sure I had just seen.
And then, whatever-the-hell-it-was slammed up against the bars—out of nowhere!—trying to get to me, and I had to scurry back to my office and both . . . “rethink my position,” and grab the bottle of scotch from my lower left desk drawer and slurp down a half-dozen Valium—not that that really helped, given what I was pretty sure I had just seen.
Jon Zelig
As a matter of "work" I'll keep reading "competing" erotica. As a matter of pleasure (or pleasure of a different kind), I have a few tics. One of them is endlessly re-reading a handful of books that I've been "going back to" for decades now. I think, this summer, Catch-22 is up again.
Jon Zelig
My grandparents were all immigrants to the US. In almost every case, their “American Names” are different from their birth names; in some cases, I don’t know any name at all. Kind of a classic mystery (or set of interwoven mysteries): Trying to figure out “who we are” and “where we came from.”
Jon Zelig
Nick & Nora Charles, from Dashiell Hammett’s “The Thin Man” (and then the movies). I like the wife a bit more than the husband. She’s beautiful, but she’s also smart and witty and even-keeled. There’s a scene in one of the movies where Nick is at a bar and Nora joins him. She asks the bartender how many drinks Nick’s had. He says something like five. She says, “I’ll have six. I need to catch up.” I love that this completely trashes (bad pun intended) the “Scolding Wife” trope. They’re partners, equals, they keep up with each other.
Jon Zelig
Not sure what “book” means any more. I’ve been producing a great deal of “novella length” erotica for a while now; that comes from. . . dunno, same as Hemingway, I guess: spanking videos, fantasizing about women I see in the supermarket, bumping into my naked wife in the kitchen as she comes out of the downstairs shower.
Jon Zelig
Writing deviant erotica, ranting about the election, following up on FB posts (to further alienate friends and family), trying to find more business writing to. . . pay the bills.
Jon Zelig
Find your audience. This is as much or more about “learning” as anything else. If you’re in a workshop with fifteen people, ten+ will just “not be your audience.” They’re not being mean or insensitive; they just don’t really “get” what you are doing—or trying to do. And they never will. You need to find the handful of people who UNDERSTAND. Post-education (if we are ever post-education), finding your audience is crucial from a commercial point of view. If you’re writing erotica? Math Digest is. . . probably not your audience. Failing to connect? Maybe that’s a skills thing (and we’re. . . never post-education) but maybe that’s because you are aiming at the wrong target.
Jon Zelig
Depends on the writing. Some writing is just “drudge” work. Gotta do it; you do it. But creative work (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, commentary, film, plays, whatever) is something that NO ONE CAN STOP YOU FROM DOING. Goes someplace? Maybe not. Pays? Yeah. . . almost never. Other people see it? Depends on (never mind publishing) who you email and where you post. But it’s like singing: no one can stop you from singing.
Jon Zelig
For most people who *really* write, I don’t think “inspiration” is an issue. I’ve often said to students that I see writing as both evidence of mental illness and a (temporary, symptomatic) treatment for mental illness. Writers and other artists just have stuff “erupting” in their brains constantly. It’s good, it’s bad, it’s worthwhile, it’s crap? Doesn’t matter. It’s endless static and chatter. You write: you drain that briefly (mostly nobody cares what you write—certainly you are hardly ever paid—but you do it because you have to do it).
Jon Zelig
Depends “what’s being ‘blocked.’” Some writing tasks are utilitarian just-gotta-get-it-done things: academic, work-related, post-event thank you notes. Don’t quite want to say “just do it badly,” but. . . done (at whatever level of efficacy). . . is “done.” You (pace Nike) Just Do It! For creative work, I’m a little torn. John Irving has referred to the “enema method of writing,” by which he means: “you hold things in until they just can’t NOT geyser out.” Mostly, I agree with that.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more