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In Die By the Pen, Jared Gniewek discusses what feeds his fires as an author of comics, screenplays and radio dramas.

Sometimes you can destroy your work before it’s even begun. I’m not sure what is stuck in the craws of so many of my writer friends but our opinions of our own work tend to be harsher than any one else’s. We hate on ourselves oftentimes before we even share the piece with a trusted reader. Tons of great material can end up locked for all time on hard drives when we let the jerky little voice of our own self doubt hijack the writing process.

I created a trick to plug that hole where the doubt and over-the-top self criticisms seep in through. I call it the “private muse”. Now, the trick with the private muse is one of partitioning (just like most of my writerly tricks). You take a portion of your brain and you create a character that can be as close to you as you like but separated by a persona you create. The way it works is you write to this muse. Everything you write is for them.

My private muse is myself ten years ago—when I used to work nights at a gas station and read voraciously at least six hours a day. When I work on a project, I write it for “Jared MICHAEL Gniewek” to proofread. I want to impress that guy for whatever reason. It provides a filtering mechanism for my own feelings towards a piece when I allow the person I once was to peruse it.

You don’t need to use yourself at all though. Your private muse could be your grandma, your co-worker who reads too much Science Fiction, your editor, your writing group, or an alien intelligence (if that’s your thing). Don’t write only for yourself but also for your imaginary self. Trust me, it helps you frame your ideas and gives focus to the piece.

When you let your insecurities control your writing you are hamstringing yourself and creating a piece which is not as free or open as it could be. When we are afraid to go somewhere it should be because it isn’t serving the writing, not because we ourselves don’t care for it. We channel stories, that’s really all we do. Lets all funnel these stories into the brains of people who care: our imaginary Personal muses!

In Comics News…

That’s right, I still read’ em and love to talk about ’em if given half a chance. It probably seems as though I only read writing books lately. Not true…get it out of yer heads.  Now this is important (-sound of throat clearing-):

Anyone who loves comics in New York City understands that not only is it the birthplace of the American Comic Book but also a vital and current scene where new ground is broken in the art form every single day. My buddy, Chris Irving and his esteemed photographer partner, Seth Kushner are celebrating this with a forthcoming book: Graphic NYC.

I sent Chris some questions this week which sparked an essay on their blog which chronicles the work he and Seth have done on this huge project thus far. You can go to http://graphicnyc.blogspot.com/ and read all of the essays and peruse the photos.

It is simply awing to see such an eclectic wonderful pool of talented and driven writers and artists.  I am so happy to know people who are doing their part to artfully document what has been going on here for generations.

Jared Gniewek has worked in the music industry as a back line technician, performer, and promoter. He also once spent ten years working at a gas station. He is also a freelance writer whose work can be seen in the recent re-launch of Tales from the Crypt and heard on The Dark Sense, an audio anthology of the macabre for which he is also the story editor — http://www.earstage.com/darksense.htm.

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