Never Hush Hush

I imagine it feels great for a known author to take part in a Q&A session from fans. (The word fans here is used very sarcastically. When you hear a pop star use the word fans, you get the feeling you could easily substitute that word for lemmings. Take followers on Tweeter, for example. Sounds wrong, somehow. Supporters is a bit better.) You have to wonder, how genuine are all those blithering idiots? Of twenty-odd million followers, how many of them would stop their idol on the street to congratulate them on a job well done? It doesn't count if you are with your friends taking pictures and autographs. That's pack mentality. Take screaming tweens, for example. ATD always poses the question: If a young girl is alone, and she sees her hero, does she still scream, as if she is with all her friends? Wouldn't that be funny, and weird? ATD remembers once how he approached a Hollyoaks actress outside a coffee shop and told her how touching her TV relationship was with a pupil, how it kept his own school days in his thoughts. None of this can I have a picture crap so I can post it on MyFace. ATD prefers genuine one2ones. A quick word, and let them get on with it. Let them know, and that's it.

Ж

Any-old-way, about questions and answers from people who have read your work. IT FEELS GOOD. After half a life shelving manuscripts in secret, ATD has experienced just a teeny tiny tad of what it feels like. Not all of it good, granted, but it's kinda like publicity, in a way—no such thing as bad. When you hear one of your characters being mentioned as if they are a real person, you can't help but smile. It's like recalling with fondness the memory of an old friend. BUT YOU HAVE TO HAND YOUR STUFF OVER FIRST. And that can be hard, especially if it's an experimental effort full of issues and controversy. Your spirit is etched between the lines of whatever you write. Warts n all.

HUGH STODDART'S prison magazine Not Shut Up 

These things take time, and a hard part of the understanding is that you will probably never finish all you set out to do, because the work of an artist is never done. The aim must be then to simply finish what one can. Prioritising can be tricky though. Just like, say, if you are an athlete, you might work on your weaknesses first in your training routine. But what about your strengths? Do you let them slip? Do what you mean to do first. Like FIRST THING IN THE MORNING! Last thing at night is no good at all. Brushing teeth is a hard enough challenge last thing at night.