tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post6979727689571723523..comments2024-03-28T21:31:13.672-04:00Comments on Jungle Red Writers: Alice Bradley on Writing and NFD — Nameless, Faceless DreadJungle Red Writershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16646429819267618412noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-35454953424217439502016-07-20T10:17:34.282-04:002016-07-20T10:17:34.282-04:00Love this!
Reminds me of the conversations betwee...Love this!<br /><br />Reminds me of the conversations between two famous people in the Style section of the Sunday New York Times. <br /><br />DianaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-10514764719315610852016-07-17T20:38:20.222-04:002016-07-17T20:38:20.222-04:00Thank you so much, everyone! I'm glad my NFD r...Thank you so much, everyone! I'm glad my NFD resonated with you all. <br /><br />I find giving the dread a name and a form helps a great deal. My NFD's real name is Craig. He has terrible posture and wears a Members Only jacket, unironically. <br /><br /><br /><br />Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07622745696870197691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-48106309199643082032016-07-16T19:34:23.165-04:002016-07-16T19:34:23.165-04:00I love the visualization of Muppet critters weari...I love the visualization of Muppet critters wearing NFD labels being picketed with angelic Muppets carrying stop signs. The whole I want to do, am afraid to do, oh heck just do it conversation has dogged me forever. I never thought the best of the best would still be having these inner dialogues as well. Thank you for your candor. Coralee Hickshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06691335135691119400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-7493273760905285102016-07-16T18:21:45.574-04:002016-07-16T18:21:45.574-04:00Alice, writers and readers have that Nameless, For...Alice, writers and readers have that Nameless, Formless Dread in common. As a reader and reading blogger, that voice of NFD talks to me daily, telling me that my TBR list and the stacks of books awaiting me are never going to get read. This is especially true with Bouchercon rushing towards us. At the beginning of the year I made out a list of authors whom I hadn't read whom I want to read by the next Bouchercon, being this quickly approaching September. Of course, I didn't know that my husband was going to have a major accident or that I would have gall bladder problems and surgery, so the NFD became quite the insidious companion. Even though I've achieved some success with my Bouchercon reading list, I do realize that I won't be able to complete it by any stretch of the imagination. I am a little less panicked by NFD at this point and am close to Pat's point of saying "to hell with it." Of course, there is the simultaneous problem I have of ADD, where I am reading an author I've meant to get to and can't quit reading his/her series. Enough Charles Todd. I have other books I must read. I'm easily distracted, too, by the new shiny book that arrives in the mail. <br /><br />You sound so entertaining, Alice, that I'm looking forward to checking out your many places of appearance. Thanks for the post today that helped me name my affliction.Kathy Reelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17004247271452356577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-22767773857962268002016-07-16T13:35:59.143-04:002016-07-16T13:35:59.143-04:00Oh Alice, I think this must resonate with all writ...Oh Alice, I think this must resonate with all writers! Every book I write I'm in panic mode for the first fifty pages. This plot dill never work. This idea is rubbish. I'll say everything I can say in eighty pages. My editor will hate it. My fans will hate it. I'll never make a bestseller list again. I have to get through this EVERY SINGLE BOOK. And while I'm writing the lying awake worrying too. Rhydnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-59338935976587519462016-07-16T13:12:43.452-04:002016-07-16T13:12:43.452-04:00Bleah is so perfect, Pat D!
And Amanda, thank you...Bleah is so perfect, Pat D!<br /><br />And Amanda, thank you. You are a rock star. And now, I am picturing you in the basement. xoxoHank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-3138507159222622852016-07-16T13:04:02.526-04:002016-07-16T13:04:02.526-04:00Oh that rotten NFD. It has been stalking me for as...Oh that rotten NFD. It has been stalking me for as long as I can remember. Happily I am at the point in life where I can ignore it and just say to hell with it. Bleah.Pat Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-59847433407703018052016-07-16T12:09:05.612-04:002016-07-16T12:09:05.612-04:00And just for the record: I hate, loathe and fear t...And just for the record: I hate, loathe and fear the dark. I don't like it outside much and I really don't like the dark basement when I'm home alone (and I'm 56, for goodness sake). But I've learned to take the big flash light and shine it into all the corners, ready to bonk the boogey man on the head if I need to. Not facing that fear and not checking out the dark corners myself just makes the fear grow in my mind. If someone is there, well, not checking it out won't change that; and if nobody is there, well, then it's all good. Amanda Le Rougetelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975933690463168906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-22974303825653477172016-07-16T12:02:37.511-04:002016-07-16T12:02:37.511-04:00Right on, Hank! You can do it, you really can. Tur...Right on, Hank! You can do it, you really can. Turn a deaf ear to those wretched voices. Look in the mirror and...just keep going! That's half the battle, isn't it? To just keep going? Even if we have to scrap a few thousand words along the way, getting the momentum going and KEEPING IT GOING does, eventually, get us where we need to get. All the best, Hank. I believe in you! Amanda Le Rougetelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975933690463168906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-75401929599855866992016-07-16T11:13:14.595-04:002016-07-16T11:13:14.595-04:00Plus, Alice, it's hilarious to read your blog,... Plus, Alice, it's hilarious to read your blog, then see it followed by your bio full of approval and success. Just saying. XxxHank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-13854390738843755492016-07-16T10:12:14.615-04:002016-07-16T10:12:14.615-04:00I think NFD has a cousin - IWS (Insecure Writer Sy...I think NFD has a cousin - IWS (Insecure Writer Syndrome). I'm suffering from it now. I'm working on a new book and thinking, "I'm not sure I can pull this one off. I may have blown everything I had on the last book. And by the way, WHY did I query that Top Agent? Even though she said I had great writing, I'm sure I'm going to mess it up somehow."<br /><br />And yes, Keenan. Machines, like horses, sense fear. =)Liz Millironhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919409969263609919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-78566671821003576542016-07-16T10:05:51.284-04:002016-07-16T10:05:51.284-04:00Keenan, yes! The machines sense fear!
Keenan, yes! The machines sense fear!<br />Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-49245036126561878742016-07-16T09:52:18.853-04:002016-07-16T09:52:18.853-04:00I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am. I do... I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am. I don't mean to be weird about it, and not to go overboard, but this is the most perfect timing of any blog I've ever read in my entire life.<br /> Today, driving home from somewhere I said to my husband: there's no way. There's no way I can do this, and I might just give up. Jonathan says : just so you know honey, you always say that. <br /> I know, I said, but this could be the time it's true. <br /> He said: you always say that, too.<br /> And really, I'd love to know what is the deal is about this-- why do we all have this? or is it we all? <br />And Keenan you are right, the machines know .<br /> So, Amanda, I am going to read your comment a couple hundred more times .<br />So wonderful to read this this morning!Hank Phillippi Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17420701704169428286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-90440127025083475642016-07-16T09:43:26.714-04:002016-07-16T09:43:26.714-04:00I either go for a walk or ride my bike every day. ...I either go for a walk or ride my bike every day. If that doesn't take care of it, a nap. Anxiety does not improve my work product; and I learned working in an office that the photocopier can feel it and will screw with me if I'm on a deadline. So I finish everything at least 2 days early. Word to the wise.Keenan Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16021411857589662446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-40023243535560050942016-07-16T09:23:48.264-04:002016-07-16T09:23:48.264-04:00I answer the NFD by talking out loud to myself. Us...I answer the NFD by talking out loud to myself. Usually, that enables me to talk down the NFD and talk up my own more sensible and realistic voice. Regardless of what the topic is, I want to believe that my fears are baseless and my capacity to face and to survive is boundless. Come on, women: Let's be the courageous heroines of our own lives! Amanda Le Rougetelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17975933690463168906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-46104595278678647752016-07-16T09:20:57.603-04:002016-07-16T09:20:57.603-04:00Sometimes I try to picture my NFD as little Muppet...Sometimes I try to picture my NFD as little Muppet-like demons — makes them cuter and less powerful....Susan Elia MacNealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00349842866995778987noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-87608867783263457062016-07-16T09:12:55.927-04:002016-07-16T09:12:55.927-04:00NFD always shows up--on a good day, I'll tell ...NFD always shows up--on a good day, I'll tell it 'Hello, back again, huh?' and keep on doing what I was doing. On a really bad day, I'll tell it to 'Shut the f--- up!' and then keep on doing what I was doing. The trick, for me, is simply to acknowledge that it's there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-36925725194941478232016-07-16T09:01:17.293-04:002016-07-16T09:01:17.293-04:00Nameless Formless Dread: so THAT'S who has bee...Nameless Formless Dread: so THAT'S who has been living in my head! Last week it told me my car would break down on I-95 or in a parking garage in a strange city. NFD was partly right: the car broke down on the way home from work, the day before I had to drive to the strange city. NFD said "that was just practice for the Big <br />One. Don't relax just yet."<br /><br />NFD sometimes comes to me as I am trying to sleep and asks " are you sure you paid the electric bill? Don't you have a dentist appointment tomorrow after work? Why did you make plans with friends? They probably have better things to do anyway. Should you have bought that birthday card for X? Her birthday isn't until next month . What if something happens to her? She didn't look so good last week. You probably already wrote a message inside the card, didn't you?"<br /><br />Deb RomanoDeb Romanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01650858888197217258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-23617335552377675892016-07-16T07:33:00.827-04:002016-07-16T07:33:00.827-04:00Alice, have you been hiding out in my head (abdome...Alice, have you been hiding out in my head (abdomen?) NFD is my best friend. It's the voice that's whispering insults as I revise my novel. It's a writer's best friend and worst enemy.Hallie Ephronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04759439029582054503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001156153899984046.post-53500921453576865842016-07-16T01:13:21.873-04:002016-07-16T01:13:21.873-04:00Oh, dear, I can imagine how frustrating it must be...Oh, dear, I can imagine how frustrating it must be to reach a difficult point in your writing . . . here’s hoping you’re past that particular bump in the road very soon.<br /><br />As for as visits from the Nameless, Formless Dread are concerned . . . sad to say, they seem to occur with amazing regularity and I confess I don’t do much about it except to fret a great deal and heave a sigh of relief when, despite that Nameless, Formless Dread, it all turns out well. <br />Joan Emersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06810313925049108163noreply@blogger.com