Tweet flog

[dwg.livejournal.com]

Right, little bit of a preamble here: there's this blog called Terrible Minds and the author has a 25 things a writer should know series that's both a hilarious and informative read. The most recent is 25 Ways to Defeat The Dreaded Writers Block, and naturally this sparked a discussion with a friend re: LKH in that she claims she doesn't get it (except for when she does, but it's not her fault because it's the muse that's eluding her). She's given advice in the past on how to overcome this, but it either comes across as incredibly condescending like, "what fools you mortals be! I do not suffer from such trivialities!" or "I'm possessed by this mysterious otherworldly source!"

And then this happened to pretty much prove my point:



[link]
And this is when I'm glad I was actually asleep when it happened, otherwise I'd find it hard to restrain myself from responding. Because...way to be insulting to everyone. The three big things that hit me here are:

A) "I'm so darkity dark and awesome!" which is something I kinda expect from a teenager, but even then there are bound to be teens that have better attitudes.

B) It's completely undermining the creative process and the work that goes into crafting art. I truly do believe LKH has some artistic ability, but continually attributing it to this external force that only she has access to, and, when she does, she's naught but a helpless conduit because she's surrendered her fingers and brain to something from Beyond or a hidden personality that dwells within the depths of her psyche is tiresome. No, the writer is in control of what happens, how the words get put on a page. A book doesn't write itself, it's about sitting your ass down and typing. While it may absolve LKH of her failures, it also robs her of her triumphs -- she couldn't possibly be responsible for great ideas, because it's the muse that brings them. At the end of the day it still comes down to one thing: you.

C) Creativity should not be conflated with mental illness. Last time I checked, hearing voices is not a mark of artistic pride, greatness, or being cool. And medicating for mental illness does not necessarily mean that all your creativity will be chemically erased. I'm sure there's a lot of creative people who are on medication of some kind that manage quite well. Not to mention, there are plenty of other people out there that don't have some deep seated trauma, damaged psyche, or imbalance and can create dark things and don't ascribe their achievements to making themselves miserable or a tiny muse alighted upon their shoulder.

Who knew you could pack so much condescending asshaberdashery into 140 characters or less?

EDIT 29/7: This post, along with naomi_jay's Open Letter to Laurell K Hamilton have been referenced in Jennifer Armintrout's blog over here. We're internet famous-ish? Raise your glasses!

Comments

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Oh, LKH, LKH, LKH. How much more insulting can you get?

(I take medication for epilepsy, depression, anxiety, OCD, ADD, and some physical isses. Say to my face that your creativity springs from you not having mental illnesses. Bitch.)

I love my novel. I love writing it. Also, my main character has seizures.

I think I'm babbling, but I'm literally angry with rage here. How the fuck can she say this so smugly and not expect a backlash?

[dwg.livejournal.com]

idk idk, but there's so much "amen!" and "this is a sign of a truly talented author!" and "lol me too, I'm not alone!" in response that just makes me >:\ SO HARD.

[acidamoeba.livejournal.com]

While this comment set my blood pressure on high, it was the reply from the "nurse" regarding schizophrenics that had me walking away from the computer before I burst a blood vessel.

I have issues with how mental illness is treated.

[ex-naomi-ja.livejournal.com]

Ditto. I'm still hoping the nurse was being sarcastic, but I suspect not.

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

I responded to this nonsense on Tumblr, but I'll repost it here:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS SHIT.

Look Laurell, I know you like to think that you’re ~omg so dark~ because you write vampire books. Guess what? THAT DOESN’T MAKE YOU MENTALLY ILL. Having characters who swan around with fangs are in no way comparable to what people who actually struggle with mental illness have to deal with, and trying to compare them- and moreover, suggesting that you’re A STRONGER PERSON for not “medicating it away-” is the height of privileged arrogance.

Yes, I do medicate away “the voices in my head.” You know why? Because this time two years ago, those “voices” nearly drove me to suicide. I wasn’t producing jack shit in terms of writing, because it was too much of a struggle to get out of bed in the morning. I certainly wasn’t “taking dictation” from the thoughts that made me think the world would be a better place if I threw myself into oncoming traffic.

I am sick to death of the idea that creative people who take medication for their mental illnesses are somehow “lesser” for not channeling their issues into their writing. For one thing, you have no idea what they go through, and how dare you presume to speak for them. For another, the myth of the “tortured artist” who sacrifices personal happiness and the ability to function in the name of creating Great Art is an antiquated idea that needs to die. Most artists I know have a much higher rate of productivity when they’re not curled up in the fetal position. It’s a stupid, condescending idea. Would you tell someone with cancer to forego chemotherapy and die so that they could write a Great American Novel on their deathbed? Mental illness is an illness, and medicating it- if you’ve been advised to do so by your doctor- is the same as taking insulin for diabetes, or using an inhaler for asthma. Positioning yourself as someone who’s mentally ill because your characters “talk to you” or some such bullshit isn’t just arrogant and stupid, it’s dangerous. What if one of your fans read that, Laurell? What if they decided to forego their medication so that they could be a Great Writer like you? Because I can tell you right now, that won’t make them a better author. It will make their mental illness worse, because going off perscribed medication is dangerous. And it’s unbelievably irresponsible of you to encourage it.

The next time you feel like telling the world how dark and broody you are, try to do a little research before you open your mouth. Because shooting off uninformed bullshit like this? Doesn’t do much to make me think you’re a good writer.

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

The reactions make me honestly frightened for some of her fans- especially the younger ones. What if one of them read that and decided to go off their medication to become a great writer like LKH? Maybe she wasn't thinking too deeply when she sent that off, but that doesn't excuse her from the potentially tragic results of a fan taking her "advice."

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I suspect that list would be far too long for twitter. I'd also wager a lot of selective obtuseness would be involved, given that there are lists out there that show her "I pioneered the genre!" thing to be utter bullshit, but she's sticking to her guns on that one.

[baeraad.livejournal.com]

For another, the myth of the “tortured artist” who sacrifices personal happiness and the ability to function in the name of creating Great Art is an antiquated idea that needs to die.

THIS!

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

Everything you just said...YES! As a fellow person with mental illness everything you said here is truth.

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

I Tweeted "Equating creativity with mental illness and suggesting that it not be medicated is BEYOND privileged and irresponsible" to her, but I somehow doubt she'll respond. Seriously, this shit makes me so angry.

[yashakizu.livejournal.com]

Doesn’t do much to make me think you’re a good writer.

Or a good person.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

WELL SAID. And I hope things are a lot better for you now.

For someone whose job is writing, LKH's lack of awareness on the power of words just boggles my mind. And worse, that she's handwaved a couple of occasions when very basic spelling/grammar are issues becaues oh hey she doesn't need to be perfect and if you can infer what she means then her job is done. Um, no and the tweet here is a prime example of that.

[nialla]

She's too busy being darkity dark "I pioneered the genre!" to think too deeply before she tweets. Or writes anything at all.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

You said everything I wanted to say, and beautifully.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

This is just such a gross, smug, super-special-dark-teenager comment to make I can barely even believe it.

[quizzicalsphinx.livejournal.com]

Dare I ask what comment this was?.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

From here (http://twitter.com/#!/ethansbusymom/statuses/93473020861104128): "As a nurse I've long believed that most schizophrenics r really just artists lacking the patience, skill or motivation to create."

There's only 15 tweets on the account, so I can't actually tell if this is a troll or sarcasm or sincere. I just...I can't even.

[quizzicalsphinx.livejournal.com]

Wow. What a perfect storm of ignorance, condescension, and tactlessness.

I don't think she's a troll, but I hope to Christ she's not really a nurse.

[sankaku-atama.livejournal.com]

+1 for the Futurama reference.

LKH is an ableist asshat.

[slashmarks.livejournal.com]

*gapes* That's just... wow. I have no words.

[cousinmary.livejournal.com]

Amazing post! I don't suppose she responded?

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

Not a peep! Can't say I'm too surprised. On the other hand, she doesn't appear to have tweeted anything since last night, so it's possible that she's just turned the internet off and gotten to work on her damn job.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

She ignores most of the tweets that go her way, save for either a core group of fans/acquaintances, or someone totally random asking something they could easily find the answer to if they knew how to operate the Google Machine.

Sorta makes me wonder why she even bothers as Twitter seems to be all about interaction and conversations with people, and she barely does any of that.

[queenmeow.livejournal.com]

It makes sense now why there is a really boring blog up today.

[4tonedeaf.livejournal.com]

No wonder her works aren't being as well received anymore.

[dreamstrifer.livejournal.com]

I'm in too much pain and too sick to write a proper response, except FUCK THAT SHIT. Grrrrrrrr that makes me angrier than probably anything else. (This is a tame response. I had to edit it so it wasn't really, really awful and nonsense-y).

[ellenel13.livejournal.com]

This is the kind of thing I read and think "one day the person who wrote this will grow up and realize how stupid and insulting they sound."

But LKH is already a grown woman so . . .

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

May I just say, you made my hero list.

[fadeinthewash.livejournal.com]

What I'm getting from this is that LKH is mentally still a 15 year old, and that possibly she should be on some kind of medication but feels too special to do it.

*shakes head* That tweet is so classic LKH, though.

[morilove.livejournal.com]

"I make a living at taking dictation."

This would actually be a clever, wry, and rather endearing comment if any of us still believed that LKH was capable of such sophisticated and self-deprecating awareness.

[morilove.livejournal.com]

"Mentally still a 15 year old" - yes, that's how it strikes me as well. The eternal adolescent, convinced tht her darkness, her pain, her angst, is different from and supercedes everyone else's. I'm not sure you can get more narcissitic than this.I'm with Mr. T on this one: "I pity the fool!"

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Also, still can't punctuate.

[lilacwire.livejournal.com]

Luckily, as a nurse, she has no prescriptive or diagnostic authority.

[mattie.livejournal.com]

Great response, and I'm not one bit surprised you haven't received the courtesy of a reply from her. You, however, rock. :D

[sehkmetschild.livejournal.com]

Technically, she's growing old. I don't believe she will ever grow up......

[wonderbink.livejournal.com]

To be honest, the first thing I tripped over when I read that was the comma splice.

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

Word. (Seriously, that 25 things series is pretty amazing; I just discovered that blog the other day when someone linked his post on dialogue and that guy's Twitter? Awesome.)

The muse thing especially pisses me of when people use it, and you nail it here -- it takes all the creative awesome and attributes it to something *special*. I supposed people who have their "muse" consider themselves special for being chosen or whatever, but just -- ugh.

The whole thing comes off as, "Look how much cooler I am than you -- could totes couldn't handle being me," which honestly? I'm pretty sure I could handle a writing gig, a house and a staff that handles my menial household tasks. It would be a real trial, but I would persevere, I'm sure.

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

There are no fucking words.

[cheeky-duckie.livejournal.com]

How fantastically stated, and I second -- hope things are looking up for you lately.

[glimmerfox.livejournal.com]

Yes. As a person with severe depression, I notice exactly how much better i work with medication or at least some counseling.

This is just goddamn irresponsible from her. and I just can't believe that she believes it. I pretty sure my dark moments are much worse than hers. Oh hubby was bad, granny didn't care. On really bad days before I got any help with mine, I would get in nihilistic thought loops and then cut an artery open. I'm glad that I don't do that anymore. Would still doing that make me a better artist? I don't think so.

[klmorgan.livejournal.com]

Right? My first thought: "I wish her job was to take dictation. Maybe then she could navigate basic sentence structure."

[volatilesublime.livejournal.com]

If she had sold what passes for her soul/ psyche to Something Beyond, it would sure explain a lot.

[satireknight.livejournal.com]

Cthulhu!

[runetraverse.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just ... wow. *headshake* At first I thought "well heck, I've made jokes like that / thought of seeing it on a T-shirt," but the more I look at the tweet, the more I realize it's not the same at all. Yes, I've made jokes about the 'good parts' of being a professional author. As a kid, my favorite comment - originally read in an interview - was that writers had the best job in the world; they could "go to work in their pajamas, play with imaginary friends all day, and get paid for it!" But this was always tongue-in-cheek, NEVER seriously! I also have no problem with "the voices" quotes - "I hear voices, but they speak Spanish," "I hear voices, and they don't like you," etc. - mostly because they ARE jokes. Not necessarily funny ones, but they aren't meant to be deliberately offensive or insulting.

This tweet, on the other hand, has no joke about it, especially when you consider her previous behaviour. She obviously believes what she's saying is true, and that moves it squarely from 'lol' to 'insulting' territory. Does she consider how embarrassed / ashamed some people are to even admit to their illnesses? It took me YEARS to admit to my own depression, and I still struggle with it even on medication. Most of my friends don't know. I find it ridiculous for her to be so flip about something she doesn't seem to have any knowledge about.

Sorry if I rambled a bit - I just keep having an image of her backpedalling with "it was only a joke, lol," and the idea gives me a sick feeling in my gut. There's a difference between someone making a sarcastic / joking comment to people who know the reality of the situation, and someone who believes dealing with their illness sans meds actually makes them super-special-creative-awesome.