Book Review: The Job, Interviews with William S. Burroughs

The Job: Interviews with William S. Burroughs by William S. Burroughs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a Burroughs fan, I was looking forward to reading a book about his writing techniques. Unfortunately that isn't what this book is. While you do get some information about his cutup method and other ideas on writing, most of the book is about the man's philosophy. Special focus is given to the idea of words as a virus, along with some rather overly enthusiastic ideas of using the cutup method in tape recordings for mind control. There are also passages on addiction, government control, anarchism, sex, and much more.
My main problem with this book is that it is, itself, sort of a cutup. The vast majority of the material is from his other works, so if you've read a lot of Burroughs like I have you end up discovering that much of the book isn't new to you. Someone just getting into Burroughs would probably get more out of this book than someone more familiar with his work. Even so, it's more fun to read the original works in all their craziness. This book is for completists only.

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Serious writing is never wasted

Yesterday, friend and fellow writer Sue Burke sent me an interesting article on writing by Holly Lisle. Holly is a multipublished midlist author who writes nonfiction and several genres of fiction. That in itself is a good example of how to make it in this crazy business.

Her article offers plenty of good advice. If you spend much time reading "how to write" articles, you'll have heard much of this before--read a lot, know your genre, write constantly, etc., etc. Two things she mentions, however, really shine out.

First, she says "nothing you write is wasted." Try everything. If you prefer prose, try poetry. If you don't like romance, try writing a romantic scene. Pushing your personal envelope will help broaden your writing horizons and may even uncover a passion or talent you didn't know you had. The only thing I'd add is, "nothing you write seriously is wasted." Farting around will get you nowhere. As William S. Burroughs once said, "do not try to shortchange the muse. It cannot be done. You can't fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal."

The second high point of this article is when she asks us to challenge our preconceptions. She suggests we write from inside the heads of the characters, especially the ones who are different than us. Robert Anton Wilson suggested this as a good daily practice no matter what your path in life and it's advice I've always tried to follow. If I can, for example, manage to get into the mindset of a Born-Again Christian Republican, I can understand the U.S. a bit better. It also gives you a healthy objectivity regarding your own cherished views. It's not easy, but it's worth practicing. It's come in handy as a travel writer, I can tell you.

So check out the link above. Holly has plenty of good writing articles on her site.