WRITING ADVICE #11 *Heroin Edition*
I comped today's inquirer a paid subscription. Is this enabling? Must ask my guru…
Send your writing-related questions to: itsottessab@gmail.com. Each week I'll pick a question and answer it here.
Dear Ottessa,
I was really enjoying subscribing to your Substack but I had to pause my subscription after becoming addicted to heroin again ($10, know-what-i-mean)?
I do have a question about writing advice. I look forward to sending it your way once I get clean.
Warmest regards,
Buddy Budderson
Dear Buddy,
Let’s not dilly-dally. What’s the question? (You could be dead tomorrow. Any of us could be dead tomorrow.)
Warmest regards back to you,
Ottessa
Hey Ottessa,
I’m slightly inebriated now so I will try to articulate my question as best I can… Is it necessary to some degree to always maintain a distance between the ‘artist’ and the ‘self’?
That sounds lame as I read it back, I’ll try rephrase it… When you’ve absorbed so many influences and ‘voices’ over the years, is the only way forward to systemically create a ‘voice of your own’ by deciding ‘this is what I’m gonna embrace and this is what i’m gonna discard (even tho i love it)
I’m still not making sense. I could it articulate it better, but you know how it is…
Regards,
BB
One week later…
Dear Ottessa,
I am now four days sober and have refined my question: Is misanthropy ever a useful base to work from or do you just end up becoming Charles Bukowski?
Dearest regards,
Bud
Dear Buddy,