The Mind of a Writer

[Paul Whybrow]

A good friend posted an amusing and truthful observation from Robert De Niro, on my Facebook timeline today.

I'm sure you'll recognise yourself in what he says....

 

[Jason Byrne]

There are a few people in the world who have the power to be the voice in your head, when you read things with their face next to them.

Robert De Niro is one of those people.


The full list is as follows:

 

[Chase Gamwell]

There are a few people in the world who have the power to be the voice in your head, when you read things with their face next to them.

Robert De Niro is one of those people.


The full list is as follows:
View attachment 1172

View attachment 1175

View attachment 1173

View attachment 1174

Very disappointed in the lack of Morgan Freeman...

 

[Jason Byrne]

Very disappointed in the lack of Morgan Freeman...

DAMN IT ALL!

Thank you sir.

That was close.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Yes. This has been noticed.

 

[KG Christopher]

@Jason Byrne on a serious note, what have your three posts in this thread added to the discussion? I was trying to write a reasonably mature response to @Paul Whybrow post, as its something I often struggle over, but now, I may as well put up a couple of pictures of donkeys snorting coke in the millenium falcon, in suspender belts (red)???

 

[Carol Rose]

Great meme, @Paul Whybrow! And it's all true. I struggle with all of this on a daily basis.

 

[Jason Byrne]

@Jason Byrne on a serious note, what have your three posts in this thread added to the discussion? I was trying to write a reasonably mature response to @Paul Whybrow post, as its something I often struggle over, but now, I may as well put up a couple of pictures of donkeys snorting coke in the millenium falcon, in suspender belts (red)???

Well, KG my friend, you didn't want any hijinks to be had in the Camels and Cake e-mails, so we moved our frivolity for you.
You don't want hijinks in Café Life.
We don't have a damn bouncy castle full of plastic balls to play in.
So I'm not sure what you want from me.

We all struggle with being isolated, neurotic, and caffeine-addled crippled by procrastination with feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy.

That should go without saying. That's why were here — blowing off steam with fellow writers, people who understand those feelings like no one else can, and sometimes not talking ad-nauseam about writing and writing-related activities.
I understand you like to be super-serious, so maybe we should add a Super-Serious Corner to Café Life where it's understood serious discussion is going on, or a Bouncy Castle where amusement is solely allowed. But last I heard, we kicked around ideas like that regarding hyperlinks, and decided not to segregate conversations.

We writers don't all have to like each other.
But Litopia was created because writers do have to stick together, and most of them understand that. And so they try to be mature around people they don't like.

So be nice.

 

[Marc Joan]

KG, just because Jason brings welcome levity doesn't mean he doesn't also see the serious side. Stick around and you will come to appreciate the art of the meme!

 

[Jason Byrne]

KG, just because Jason brings welcome levity doesn't mean he doesn't also see the serious side. Stick around and you will come to appreciate the art of the meme!

I feel the love Marc, thank you.

That said, I have my serious days and my manic days, and I am well aware that I can irritate people with my level of energy. A lot of members enjoy it, and it's too much for a lot of others.

I also should have heeded my own advice, so for that I apologize, KG.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

And since @Jason Byrne will apologize, I shall, as well. I also posted meme's that added nothing to the thread.

I enjoy the lightheartedness on Litopia and throw myself into it with reckless abandon on many occasions. It definitely helps keep me sane as rejections and other shortfalls occur, but if I have departed too far from the thread in any of those moments, I apologize.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Aren't we awesome?

I'm sorry I'm sorry — I had to.

 

[KG Christopher]

@Jason Byrne , @Chase Gamwell Litopia is a great resource for me, and for others. Think of @Paul Whybrow I am sure its a great resource for him also. When he posted that 'Meme' up yesterday, it could have been a cry for help. His cat might have died, he might have been just about to write the most significant part of a 150K manuscript and his pencil snapped, distracting him -- the insight never to return. He might have had a seagull poo on his head that morning, or maybe got a paper cut, or gone to the kitchen to pour a glass of his favourite fruit juice for breakfast and realised the carton was empty. All in all, he might have been having a bad writing day.

'I think I'm having a bad writing day, I wonder do other writers experience this?' So he finds a suitable meme to express his feelings and creates a new thread, and the most you can offer him is a picture of Yoda?

The point I am trying to make is this. I got the impression from the Meme that it was looking for a serious response, not something trivial.

 

[KG Christopher]

 

[Alistair Roberts]

"Posted an amusing and truthful observation..." Kinda leaves it open to all possibilities, so enjoy that line of thought.

 

[J. Rook]

KG, just because Jason brings welcome levity doesn't mean he doesn't also see the serious side. Stick around and you will come to appreciate the art of the meme!

When I first came across memes I despised them but now I relish some (only some) of them. They seem to me to be short-cuts to deep-lying understanding/acknowledging of truths. However, as writers we are duty-bound not to be lazy, and memes tend to make people thinking-indolent. However, good quality memes (and Jason does seem to find a lot of these) are very amusing, so please keep them coming, Jason. On the whole, though I'm with KG on this one.

 

[Jason Byrne]

@Jason Byrne , @Chase Gamwell Litopia is a great resource for me, and for others. Think of @Paul Whybrow I am sure its a great resource for him also. When he posted that 'Meme' up yesterday, it could have been a cry for help. His cat might have died, he might have been just about to write the most significant part of a 150K manuscript and his pencil snapped, distracting him -- the insight never to return. He might have had a seagull poo on his head that morning, or maybe got a paper cut, or gone to the kitchen to pour a glass of his favourite fruit juice for breakfast and realised the carton was empty. All in all, he might have been having a bad writing day.

'I think I'm having a bad writing day, I wonder do other writers experience this?' So he finds a suitable meme to express his feelings and creates a new thread, and the most you can offer him is a picture of Yoda?

The point I am trying to make is this. I got the impression from the Meme that it was looking for a serious response, not something trivial.

You do make an excellent point there, and I like where your head is at. I feel deeply when people are in need of help, and would feel terrible if I made light of a legitimate outreach for help, so thank you for saying so.

We all also reach our limit and snap or lash out from time to time, and I think we recover and compose ourselves much better than society at large. I commend you for that.

 

[KG Christopher]

You do make an excellent point there, and I like where your head is at. I feel deeply when people are in need of help, and would feel terrible if I made light of a legitimate outreach for help, so thank you for saying so.

We all also reach our limit and snap or lash out from time to time, and I think we recover and compose ourselves much better than society at large. I commend you for that.

Absolutely no worries.

 

[Jason Byrne]

And lo — I return with topic-appropriate memes, 83% understanding the lesson to be learned here!



Also this one.

 

[J. Rook]

And lo — I return with topic-appropriate memes, 83% understanding the lesson to be learned here!
View attachment 1188

Please can you find one featuring the original version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still"?

 

[Jason Byrne]

Please can you find one featuring the original version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still"?

Well sure!

 

[J. Rook]

Well sure!

Lovely! Thank you very much.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

What amused me about Robert De Niro's observation on the mind of a writer, was whether he referred to how that mind seemed to the onlooker or the writer themselves—or both!

I know that I must come across as obsessive when I describe my WIP and experiences with querying agents to friends, as the fictional world I'm creating feels more authentic to me than anything I do in real life.

Just me and my imaginary friends....

 

[Chase Gamwell]

What amused me about Robert De Niro's observation on the mind of a writer, was whether he referred to how that mind seemed to the onlooker or the writer themselves—or both!

I know that I must come across as obsessive when I describe my WIP and experiences with querying agents to friends, as the fictional world I'm creating feels more authentic to me than anything I do in real life.

Just me and my imaginary friends....

That does make total sense. It's so easy for the worlds we craft to hold so much sway since we wind up spending so much time inside of them.

 

[Patricia D]

A good friend posted an amusing and truthful observation from Robert De Niro, on my Facebook timeline today.

I'm sure you'll recognise yourself in what he says....

Well, someone has to be different, and it might as well be me. I am by nature an optimist. Bad things have happened to me--the last two years have been a bitch--but I still find myself humming when I walk down the street, and I notice that the sky is a lovely shade of blue or a shrub is pretty, etc.. I love writing and wish I were better at it, however, that is not a source of angst--I'm working on it. Maybe a sunny nature will keep me from artistic achievements, but I'm having a good time.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Well, someone has to be different, and it might as well be me. I am by nature an optimist. Bad things have happened to me--the last two years have been a bitch--but I still find myself humming when I walk down the street, and I notice that the sky is a lovely shade of blue or a shrub is pretty, etc.. I love writing and wish I were better at it, however, that is not a source of angst--I'm working on it. Maybe a sunny nature will keep me from artistic achievements, but I'm having a good time.

You know, come to think of it I tend to walk with my head craned back, staring up at how awesome the sky is. I was doing that yesterday evening walking to the grocery store.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

You know, come to think of it I tend to walk with my head craned back, staring up at how awesome the sky is. I was doing that yesterday evening walking to the grocery store.

Normally, I'm a pretty paranoid person, and thinking about that all the time can be draining and tends toward pessimism (because I'm convinced the worst side of everyone and everything will come out), but I was on a plane yesterday and it was amazing. First, I already love flying. But I was looking out the window at that crazy storm that's rolling across the southern US (that we were flying over and making quite a bumpy ride), and I couldn't help but think how amazing it all is: we invented a craft that lets me get almost 600 miles in an hour and a half and I got to see the clouds from above, which is beautiful!

 

[Jason Byrne]

I think that while writers as people tend to feel the greatest weight of the horror of the world in having to conjure it, we also are the most fascinated by its beauty, in our vain attempt to portray it.
Maybe even more than painters. They can just paint it. We have to describe it.
I get those moments too, where you walk by something simple, like a tree, and for an instant you almost have a flash of enlightenment, like you can see all the history of the universe just behind it, and then its gone just as fast.

 

[Patricia D]

I get those moments too, where you walk by something simple, like a tree, and for an instant you almost have a flash of enlightenment, like you can see all the history of the universe just behind it, and then its gone just as fast.

Yes!!! And you are left knowing that enlightenment exists--even if you can't quite find it.

Of course I also get those moments, lying in bed in the morning, when I realize exactly how to write a scene, what the characters should say.... Moments later, it's all gone.

 

[Chase Gamwell]

But that's the beauty of writing. It really is an uncommon talent, because not everyone can conjure images of waves crashing against jagged rocks or honeybees flitting between purple flowers with the same life as a writer can. Even as a writer, I find myself awestruck by some peoples ability to paint a picture in my mind more vivid than the most beautiful canvas of art.