Comments on: I Am Not a Serial Killer

By: Dawn B.

Dawn B. — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t wallpaper, but I’ve threatened to. I’ve gotten better at getting them (i.e. finally stopped crying everytime I got one) and I have a folder full of them.
I heard wallpapering recommended. Now we have to worry about becoming serial killers? Damn.

By: Hannah Bowen

Hannah Bowen — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Now we have to worry about becoming serial killers?

I’ll bet you get a lot of time to write in jail.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

That’s hilarious. My wife said a guy from her work (who wants to be a writer) had a look at my website with its litany of reported rejections and asked her, “why does he get rejected so much?” My only response was, “he hasn’t sent any stuff out yet, has he?”

By: Dawn B.

Dawn B. — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

And you know, Charlie Stross does recommend hovering on the edge of madness to get a lucky break in writing…

By: tobias buckell

tobias buckell — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Well, yeah, hence the sub-title of my site: walking the thin line between insomnia and insanity online since ‘98 Long nights of typing and skipping out on sleep do produce a pretty wacked out Tobias, this is true

By: Jack Skillingstead

Jack Skillingstead — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I wonder if any writer *ever* relaxes. The next rejection is almost always in the mail, even when you are selling regularly to some markets. I bought one of those office spike things a couple of years back, and I’m about halfway to the top with impaled rejections. In the past I’ve stuck them on the wall, kept them in files, burned them in vaguely occult ceremonies. Writing fiction is a very tough way to go, and you have to overcome your natural aversion to rejection. One way of doing that is by keeping the rejection factor right *there* in plain view. I also keep a copy of my first check and acceptance letter in view, too. Balance, balance!

By: Scott Janssens

Scott Janssens — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Ooh, impaling rejections, what a fabulous idea.

By: Vera Nazarian

Vera Nazarian — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Dude,

Your wallpapering urge is absolutely normal.

I have all my rejections neatly encased in plastic sleeves and filling binders. I am proud of them.

The only reason I haven’t tried to wallpaper the walls is because I have my art on the walls, and no matter what, my canvases don’t fit in binders.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

If I was more organized, I might display my rejections. About the failure stuff though: Failure magazine was launched in 2000 if I remember right. Haven’t read it in a while, but they started out publishing some great stuff about people and ideas that failed, why they failed, and how they learned from their experiences. It was great stuff and it looks like it’s still going on. I agree. It’s something most people don’t want to talk about. That’s why so many things look impossible; we never see anyone else fail.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Most people choose not to surround themselves with what they see as failure. On the other hand it meant you were trying and that was great. It’s just that you were pretty much a night owl, you kept to yourself for the most part, and sometimes lots of screaming and swearing came from your room (after a sale). Those things combined would cause people to worry.

By: Jena

Jena — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s a creepy one for you: in an arson investigation class, we heard about a guy who was suspected of torching his house. Why was he a suspect? The investigators realized that the “wallpaper” in his house was actually hundreds of losing lottery tickets.

By: tobias buckell

tobias buckell — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

re: Hannah’s comment: only an author could make going to jail sound positive in that manner!
Jena: yeah, that is.

By: tobias buckell

tobias buckell — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Ooh, Alex, cool link to failure mag. In Crystal Rain I got inspired by wooden submarines and featured (albeit briefly) one, and Failure mag had an awesome early submarine inventor failure article. Very cool.