Writing from Depression
It’s only in the last few weeks that I’ve been able to pin down — tentatively — a dominating characteristic of my writing over the past couple of decades.
Much of it originated in depression.
And the stuff that did is, generally speaking, the less interesting stuff. Or the stuff that doesn’t seem quite… “there.”
The best of my work, I think, has always had its roots in righteous outrage, compulsive curiosity, or reckless abandon.
June 13th, 2005 at 3:53 AM
Does the following scenario sound familiar: You are annoyed, possibly angry, but not enough so to lose your sense of humor about the situation.
June 13th, 2005 at 7:05 AM
I’m not exactly sure you can have “righteous outrage or reckless abandon” without depression. The “compulsive curiousity” part is another matter though…
June 13th, 2005 at 12:32 PM
I kinda falsely remembered HTD as some lighthearted romp from when I first read it in 8th grade. Going back and rereading it, it’s surprising how much time Howard spends medicated, committed, or attempting suicide.
June 13th, 2005 at 8:06 PM
It *was* a lighthearted romp — through a landscape of drugs, insanity, and suicide.
June 14th, 2005 at 12:16 PM
The absence of color in the reprint makes a considerable difference.
Yellow is such a cheerful color…
I never understood that letter from the fellow who said he read “Swan-song” in the tub and nearly drowned laughing. I still don’t — more intensely.
June 15th, 2005 at 10:37 PM
(I could understand Voltaire laughing…)