October 19th, 2009 / 9:10 am
Behind the Scenes & Craft Notes

Edge

razor-blade-lipsSome writers (like me) need to be on edge to write and sometimes life just naturally gets ya so with weddings, funerals, fiery and rainy days. But sometimes you need to get yourself an edge. Manufacture it.

–Porn, music, drugs, exercise, sleep-deprivation, medication, meditation, masturbation, punching a wall, self mutilation, punching a dummy, travel, unsafe sex, hunting, gambling, binge eating, purging, murder, torture, puzzles.

who of yall needs this “edge” and what do y’all do to set yourself thusly? (just wondering on an early sunday morning in D.C. —  was at the Mall last night and feeling quite patriotic. a bit edgy, actually,…..)

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48 Comments

  1. joseph

      I don’t do things (assignments, fill out forms, pay parking tickets traffic tickets, pay overdraft fees, etc) that need to be done. This causes a shit ton of trouble yet seems to support what goes on paper.

  2. joseph

      I don’t do things (assignments, fill out forms, pay parking tickets traffic tickets, pay overdraft fees, etc) that need to be done. This causes a shit ton of trouble yet seems to support what goes on paper.

  3. joseph

      and sometimes femdom porn.

  4. joseph

      and sometimes femdom porn.

  5. rauan klassnik

      that’s a good one i also am quite religious about,….

  6. rauan klassnik

      that’s a good one i also am quite religious about,….

  7. Amy McDaniel

      hangover is the best one. and the way milk sometimes makes my stomach feel curdled.

  8. Amy McDaniel

      hangover is the best one. and the way milk sometimes makes my stomach feel curdled.

  9. Blake Butler

      i like to watch Invocation of My Demon Brother on repeat and eat candy

  10. Blake Butler

      i like to watch Invocation of My Demon Brother on repeat and eat candy

  11. mimi

      All I have to do is imagine and/or drive around Oakland and keep my eyes and ears wide open.
      The “and/or” is really important in the above sentence.
      Sometimes I drive all the way to the Sierras, unexpectedly.
      Occasionally, SF is substituted for Oakland.
      Occasionally, I ride public transportation.
      Every once in a while I take Amtrak from Oakland to LA and back.
      But most of the time all I really have to do is go into my imagination.
      It is not an edgy edge, particularly, but it is my edge.

  12. mimi

      All I have to do is imagine and/or drive around Oakland and keep my eyes and ears wide open.
      The “and/or” is really important in the above sentence.
      Sometimes I drive all the way to the Sierras, unexpectedly.
      Occasionally, SF is substituted for Oakland.
      Occasionally, I ride public transportation.
      Every once in a while I take Amtrak from Oakland to LA and back.
      But most of the time all I really have to do is go into my imagination.
      It is not an edgy edge, particularly, but it is my edge.

  13. Sean

      I think your list covers it for me.

  14. Sean

      I think your list covers it for me.

  15. Ken Baumann

      Sleep deprivation is a winner.

  16. Ken Baumann

      Sleep deprivation is a winner.

  17. Gian

      30 milligrams of Percocet and bad Bronx weed. Also, my balls have to be completely drained (either by someone else or I can handle that shit all by myself, YOU KNOW)

  18. Gian

      30 milligrams of Percocet and bad Bronx weed. Also, my balls have to be completely drained (either by someone else or I can handle that shit all by myself, YOU KNOW)

  19. Michael James

      Cigarettes, alcohol, weed, or being completely sober and anti-social while being completely social, ie, a loner asshole who goes to parties then sits by theirself drinking and making interesting yet weird comments and unstabling you.

      or you can be a funny guy while on zoloft and want to write but cant.

      i miss the edge.

  20. Michael James

      Cigarettes, alcohol, weed, or being completely sober and anti-social while being completely social, ie, a loner asshole who goes to parties then sits by theirself drinking and making interesting yet weird comments and unstabling you.

      or you can be a funny guy while on zoloft and want to write but cant.

      i miss the edge.

  21. Rauan Klassnik

      edge is edge :)

  22. Rauan Klassnik

      edge is edge :)

  23. Rauan Klassnik

      i don’t know… more details please,…. just kidding :) !!!

  24. Rauan Klassnik

      i don’t know… more details please,…. just kidding :) !!!

  25. Rauan Klassnik

      yeah, when i’m off i certainly miss the edge too….. i need to hack my therapist up into small pieces !!,….

  26. Rauan Klassnik

      yeah, when i’m off i certainly miss the edge too….. i need to hack my therapist up into small pieces !!,….

  27. drew kalbach

      being extremely antisocial gives me that edge. sometimes i’ll go a few days without any real stimulating human contact and i’ll just write poem after poem.

      it’s great for the sadness!

  28. drew kalbach

      being extremely antisocial gives me that edge. sometimes i’ll go a few days without any real stimulating human contact and i’ll just write poem after poem.

      it’s great for the sadness!

  29. Tim Horvath

      Edge as in risk, edge as in advantage, edge as in feeling on the verge of something but not quite there, edge as in the thing that is the meeting point of the multiple dimensions of a literary entity (character, novel). I like how all these things are kinda conflated in your question, at least for me.

      I work in a psych hospital which is a kind of edge because must become hyperattuned to all potential edges, i.e. anything that could be used as a sharp object, and the edginess of patients, which could turn into maelstrom, and there is the edge of having at least the sensation of a novel’s worth of stories in any given eight hour shift.

      I print things out and read them on paper because paper still has edges, i.e. physical contours that rub up against things and can be rubbed up against and the monitor doesn’t have that even though technically one would say it has an edge. But you can’t cut yourself on it, at least not easily.

      I like montage in my writing cause I like lots of edges, apparently.

      My edge as in advantage, whatever trace of one I might ever have, I cannot reveal.

      Don’t take the edge off, ever. If anything, put the edge on.

  30. Tim Horvath

      Edge as in risk, edge as in advantage, edge as in feeling on the verge of something but not quite there, edge as in the thing that is the meeting point of the multiple dimensions of a literary entity (character, novel). I like how all these things are kinda conflated in your question, at least for me.

      I work in a psych hospital which is a kind of edge because must become hyperattuned to all potential edges, i.e. anything that could be used as a sharp object, and the edginess of patients, which could turn into maelstrom, and there is the edge of having at least the sensation of a novel’s worth of stories in any given eight hour shift.

      I print things out and read them on paper because paper still has edges, i.e. physical contours that rub up against things and can be rubbed up against and the monitor doesn’t have that even though technically one would say it has an edge. But you can’t cut yourself on it, at least not easily.

      I like montage in my writing cause I like lots of edges, apparently.

      My edge as in advantage, whatever trace of one I might ever have, I cannot reveal.

      Don’t take the edge off, ever. If anything, put the edge on.

  31. Lincoln

      I’m sorry, but U2 sucks

  32. Lincoln

      I’m sorry, but U2 sucks

  33. rauan klassnik

      ha ha,… and don’t be sorry,…. that’s for circumcisions…..

  34. rauan klassnik

      even shoelaces and belts are edgy in psych wards

  35. rauan klassnik

      ha ha,… and don’t be sorry,…. that’s for circumcisions…..

  36. rauan klassnik

      even shoelaces and belts are edgy in psych wards

  37. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      I have to be in pain, and sometimes being a little drunk helps. The antidepressants always killed the need. That’s why I quit them. I’d rather be miserable and writing

  38. Nathan (Nate) Tyree

      I have to be in pain, and sometimes being a little drunk helps. The antidepressants always killed the need. That’s why I quit them. I’d rather be miserable and writing

  39. jereme

      i usually write when i first wake up, when i’m still a little groggy and unsure what the day is going to be like.

      waking up at 4 am and writing is a drug for me.

  40. jereme

      i usually write when i first wake up, when i’m still a little groggy and unsure what the day is going to be like.

      waking up at 4 am and writing is a drug for me.

  41. Ani Smith

      I think it’s more about a need than an edge. Being hungry or tired works. Being horny works a treat for me. The rest of everything mentioned is just put in place to open up a need that will subsequently get filled (one hopes) with words.

      I like Rauan. He seems excited. :)

  42. Ani Smith

      I think it’s more about a need than an edge. Being hungry or tired works. Being horny works a treat for me. The rest of everything mentioned is just put in place to open up a need that will subsequently get filled (one hopes) with words.

      I like Rauan. He seems excited. :)

  43. lorian

      lots and lots of rough sex with strangers, calling my mother

  44. lorian

      lots and lots of rough sex with strangers, calling my mother

  45. Rauan Klassnik

      i am excited !!,…

  46. Rauan Klassnik

      good ones… separately, or together…. on video phone would be good :)

  47. Rauan Klassnik

      i am excited !!,…

  48. Rauan Klassnik

      good ones… separately, or together…. on video phone would be good :)