SIDE PROJECTS
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
“We are here on Earth to fart around. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”—Kurt Vonnegut
One thing I’ve learned in my brief tenure as an artist: it’s the side projects that blow up.
By side projects I mean the stuff that you thought was just farting around. That’s actually the good stuff. That’s when the magic happens.
Four years ago I had no idea what I was doing. I thought I was a short story writer. I was trying to write stories. Then one day I took a Sharpie to a stack of newspapers. All the sudden I was a poet. Pretty soon a diversion—a side project—turned into my main thing (whether I wanted it to or not).
Had I been focused only on my goal of writing fiction, had I not allowed myself the room to experiment and take on a side project, I’d never be where I am now.
So the lesson is: take time for side projects. Take time to fart around.
August 27th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
This is exactly what I want my students to say, believe, do. Not as a side project, but in their learning to become better writers, thinkers, and readers. It’s a statement for me about humility and courage that is a pre-requisite to learning.
(I think they are pretty good at farting around already–even though I know you mean something else.)
Beautiful.
Laurence
August 27th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Thanks, Laurence. I call it farting around after Vonnegut, but it’s really closer to what Don Barthelme called “not-knowing”.
Re: students, theres a big difference between “farting around” and “flatulence”!
:-D
September 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am
If you ever put this one up for sale, let me know.
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