Okay, so, the school paper I worked at way back in my college days asked to interview me. I guess they found something interesting in the story of a writer struggling to break in. Also, I’m the co-author of two webcomics, so there’s that. I figured “what the heck, it should be good times”.
We spent the better part of an hour talking about writing, the state of the industry, trying to break in, self-publishing, etc, etc. At some point, the conversation turned to “writer’s block”. I talked about a quote I read from Video Game Designer David Jaffe that basically said: there’s no such thing as writer’s block, just procrastination and laziness.
Anyway, from when those words left my mouth to when they appeared in the paper, Jaffe had become my “writing partner”. I have no idea where the breakdown happened. I’ve worked in the industry. Frankly, stories are touched by multiple people from writing to press. So, somewhere along the way, something happened.
But, it’s really made me think about the implications of errors and misquotes in the press. I mean, I doubt Jaffe is ever going to read this. It’s a school paper for a community college in a small town of 15,000 people. But, if he did, that would be monstrously bad.
It’s just untrue. It’s lies. It’s a falsehood.
I’m going to have the paper print a retraction to specify that I don’t know Jaffe. He’s just someone I admire. But, really, what good will that do? The words are out. It’ll set the record straight. For some people. Maybe.
So, if Mr. Jaffe ever reads this. If, for some reason, he Googles his name and this comes up: I’m sorry. I never said that. I was misrepresented. Our relationship is as follows:
You are a guy who makes games I enjoy immensely. And you said something about writer’s block with which I completely agree.
There. Now the record is straight. It has been straightened.