I’ve long contended that any creative needs boredom, and we’ve largely robbed ourselves of it. When my kids where young, I’d call the iPhone “daddy’s little helper” because I would so frequently turn to it when the kids were playing, and waiting at the doctors or shopping, or something where … well, your mind needed to escape.
Now, in those situations what it was escaping was often noise and over-stimulation. In those situations, whipping out the iPhone to sit on twitter while the kids were screaming and leaping around a play area with a dozen other kids was the only way to quieten your head down a bit.
(Of course, show me a parent that later in life doesn’t think “I’d give anything to go back and see my kids running around like maniacs in a play park for one day” – but that’s because we’re very good at blocking out the day after day monotony of this as it happens – but also, I would give anything, etc.)
But then, when the kids are older and you’re no longer needing to escape a cacophony of sound and bright lights, but just you know now you’re a little bored, so you whip out the phone and spend that time hitting up twitter/bluesky/facebook/instgram/discord/twitter/bluesky/…[repeats forever]
And boredom vanishes. But, I think, for a creative, boredom is easily our most powerful motivator (second possibly only to “oh my god, my bank account is crying”) but I think it’s a better motivator. Because it’s one where your brain will start to make it’s own noise, and that noise will form into thoughts and ideas that you may never have had the space or patience for before.
I think we all probably have our own thresholds for boredom, I often suggest three hours minimum. But really three hours is my minimum for getting stuff done – one hour to faff about, one hour to stare vacantly in to space, and one hour to go “well, I suppose I could try drawing”. I mean, once you’ve got over that start up time then the next three hours is all drawing. The problem is the speed bumps. Each speed bump doesn’t interrupt the drawing (for me) it simply resets the minimum three hour window.
Which is no way to ease the pain of a bank balance.
With my wife starting full time work this week, I’ve largely had a week free of speed bumps (wait, this sounds terrible, I love my wife, she is not a speed bump, but you know, she’s started work at the same time my son is working and my other son is at college so it’s been a dramatically different week than the weeks/years leading up to it).
Suddenly, I’ve got wide open spaces to just let myself think. And I did. (Only downside, didn’t quite do as much work as I’d intended)
One thing I also did was I sent a cold pitch to a publisher, and while it’s a long way from something actually happening, it was a fast reply asking if there’s more. So that’s good. I’m sure I wouldn’t have sent that cold pitch if I hadn’t had the wide open time and was avoiding drawing. (This is how I avoid work, crazy reach for the moon stretches)
So find some time for boredom, see what it does.
Animates
Last year I came to the realisation that almost every one I knew I knew from social media, having very few friends in real life. And with the implosion of twitter in to X I lost many of those connections, writ, as they were in mist.
So I decided to make a pointed effort in doing stuff in the real world, comics unfortunately was too dispersed (and as a professional you’re viewed differently than if you were a fan) so I wanted to do something where I had equal standing with everyone so I started Improv.
In a similar funk of existential drama I was mulling over my comics career and thinking, actually I need to explore where my skillset can be used outside of comics, and Northern Ireland (and certainly the Republic of Ireland) has become home to a number of animation companies. And I figure, well I’ve done storyboarding.
So casting around for who is here, I discovered that there’s a regular animators meet up called Animates, and while I couldn’t quite book a ticket for the next one I saw, I kept it in the back of my mind for the next time.
In the meantime, I’d been writing and drawing Terran Omega.
So yesterday Animates happened in Belfast and I popped along. I am a weird cat when it comes to social stuff. If I’m introduced, I can talk your leg off (in fact you might want to inch away slowly from me) but if I’m not introduced I can sort of stand there staring vacantly in to space. I’m like a pilot that is crap at landing and take off but amazing in the air. (No one wants to fly with that pilot)
Luckily, prior to this,I’d met a guy called Sree who worked in animation, through a mutual friend – and we met through doing Improv. Sree is also a comics but and knew enough people in the industry that I thought “well, I cam glom on to Sree”. And that’s what I did.
And it went great. I don’t know what will come from it long term (and I’m not going to talk about it because, well, right now it’s nothing), but certainly making sure people know I exist is one important aspect to the kind of work I do and I don’t regret going (and thank god Sree was there otherwise I would definiatly have been stood staring vacantly in to space wondering why I thought this was a good idea.
I will have to work on hellos and goodbyes, though, but I think I do a good pitch.
Anyway, been something of an exciting weekend, and these things are at the very early you-need-to-hold-this-flame-gently-in-your-hand-in-case-the-wind-blows-it-away stage, but I think it vindicates the decision I made some time ago which is that you have more control over your career as a writer than as an artist. (And more again if you can do both)
Yesterday On Social Media
(I’ve renamed this section, because, well, there’s more than bluesky and in a few years we may all be talking about bluesky like it’s myspace, who knows – the internet is in the cloud, and we all know what bastards clouds are for disappearing)
Yesterday on Instagram, I got what must be the funniest message I’ve ever received. The context for this is they were replying to some photos I’d posted of me shaving off my beard from doing the play The Ghost Train. Now, here’s the best most entertaining way to read this, do it in this order:
Look at the photo. Soak it in. Read the reply to the photo. IMPORTANT: Go and look at the photo again.
It’s a rare thing that the reply to the photo is also the photo.
Now, I thought, wait, Paul, surely this smart young lady is looking at the OTHER photos in this series of photos, and your after photo might actually be amazing, you must look very handsome and lively.
Readers, here are the other photos (don’t bother clicking the arrows, these are screen grabs so the arrows on the image are non functional)
First – a MID POINT!
Ok, maybe not that one, oh wait this one…?
Ah yes! Lively and wise!
Anyway, I showed this to my kids who wet themselves laughing. (I wish I could show my mum this she’d have loved it)
I hope when he dies, like ancient Egyptians leaders who subsequent rulers no longer favour they scratch his name off everything they deface his likenesses and we never say his name again.
Isn’t it weird that we all know who I’m talking about?
For fact fans, on bluesky, eviŁrooster @evilrooster.bsky.social added:
Romans did that too. Technical term is damnatio memoriae.
Oh, I stumbled across this great bit of telly, two of a britains finest comedian / sketch -Sally Phillips talking about Bob mortimer’s favourite sketches in a tv show called “My Favourite Sketch”. I have become entranced with Bob’s turn from dada-esque absurdity that my parents just didn’t get, to gently funny absurdity that I think I could sit down with my dad and watch gone fishing with.
Anyway this is great. Link because embedding doesn’t seem to be working.
And a final word from Loui Stonehill @louistonehill.bsky.social
2026 is the year we should all start reading books again Books are lovely. Libraries are wonderful places. Second hand book shops are mysterious and magical. Markets and fairs always contain surprise gems. And there are even cafes in forgotten street corners with excellent coffee and reading nooks
