{"id":3331,"date":"2015-12-06T16:45:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T21:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raplens.wordpress.com\/?p=72"},"modified":"2015-12-06T16:45:05","modified_gmt":"2015-12-06T21:45:05","slug":"a-healthy-streak-of-delusion-an-interview-with-jeff-weiss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/2015\/12\/06\/a-healthy-streak-of-delusion-an-interview-with-jeff-weiss\/","title":{"rendered":"A Healthy Streak of Delusion: An Interview With Jeff Weiss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeff Weiss is a writer by definition. By vocation. His work is a product of passion when he has time, and a work of dedication when he doesn\u2019t. He doesn\u2019t claim to be an expert, but he does have experience. He was a staff writer at a business blog. He worked for free for the now-defunct Stylus magazine. He writes a weekly column for LA Weekly<\/a>, and his articles have appeared in publications such as the Washington Post<\/a>, Noisey<\/a>, Pitchfork<\/a>, and Rolling Stone<\/a>. He has a podcast<\/a> with rapper MC Nocando<\/a>. He runs his own music blog, Passion of the Weiss<\/a>, which has grown to have about twenty-five contributors. But please, God, do not call him a music writer. The only thing worse would be to call him a hip-hop writer. He enjoys writing about music, but focusing on one subject isn\u2019t interesting to him, \u201cfuck specialization…I want to write about everything…it\u2019s not just music and it\u2019s not just rap. I didn\u2019t work hard enough to learn how to be a writer…just to fucking write about rap music.\u201d Life is too big to write about one thing, he says. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I interviewed Jeff over the phone while I drove through upstate New York. He claimed he was tired; he didn’t get enough sleep the night before, but his intense responses to my questions were anything but tired. During our conversation we talked in a winding way about what makes a writer. Weiss is careful not to sound like he knows everything. He knows that his answers aren\u2019t for everyone, but his fifteen-or-so years as a writer lend him credibility. Luckily he doesn\u2019t attempt to qualify his argument with \u201cI mean that\u2019s just what I think,\u201d the classic Millennial strategy of not taking responsibility. He believes what he says is true without sounding pedantic. His views on writing wrenched me out of my comfortable position as an excited liberal arts student with the whole world before me. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Jeff Weiss talks about Biggie and Tupac on SkeeTV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He tells me that writers (really, artists in general, although he doesn\u2019t like that word) are a little quirky; \u201cif you don\u2019t have a drug or drinking problem you\u2019re going to want one. Because it\u2019s humbling. Writing is a humbling pursuit, and that\u2019s one of the cool things about it. On a day to day basis you wake up, and the greatest writers can\u2019t write anything.\u201d If that doesn\u2019t already deter you from wanting to be a writer, then consider his other advice, \u201cWhenever I talk to younger writers I\u2019m like, \u2018honestly, what\u2019s the most important thing I could tell you about a career in writing is to be prepared to sacrifice. I don\u2019t know what it is. Everybody has to sacrifice something different.\u201d In another conversation this past summer Jeff told me he\u2019s had to sacrifice a lot; sleep, financial stability at times, relationships, and small bits of sanity. At one point he offers me some advice; don\u2019t be a writer. When I told him that I would probably ignore that advice he seemed please, \u201cif you listen to anyone that tells you not to do it, you shouldn\u2019t be a writer.\u201d I sheepishly took some minor pride in that.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not all doomsday. Jeff isn\u2019t trying to ruin writing for every excited young Buzzfeed contributor out there. He\u2019s starkly realistic, which is refreshing. Frequent visits to campus by over-eager alumni touting their industries need some mitigation. Our conversation was a much-needed smack to the face. Like most worthwhile pursuits, writing is a struggle which takes up time and energy. That\u2019s what makes it worthwhile. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Writing is human, which is what makes it so hard and so intriguing. To Jeff, writing is a practice in empathy. He says the best part about his job as a journalist is that he gets to meet people that bring with them a lot of different perspectives, \u201cI have to try to get along with them, you know, and I have to try to learn from them and figure them out. That\u2019s the most valuable thing as a writer, as a human being, is kind of…have empathy, or understanding.\u201d For Jeff, good writing is a solid connection, breaking the surface tension. Tom Clancy writes about action; what you see. Ernest Hemingway writes about what happens in the absence of action, and makes it much more interesting. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I tend to think my writing is good. I’m narcissistic about what I write. Probably in an attempt to feel better about my narcissism I asked Jeff if you need to have an ego to be a good writer: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that you have to have a healthy streak of delusion. Because when you first start out you\u2019re always bad. You know what I mean? You have to be like, \u2018no one can tell me I\u2019m bad. I\u2019m fucking the greatest ever.\u2019 I mean a lot of people give up. You can\u2019t give up. If you want to be a writer, it’s like anything, sports\u2026.that was probably the most valuable pursuit I could have. Be competitive. Every writer is competitive, every writer is different, you know? But I would say that you have to have a healthy streak of delusion. Delusion can empower you because you have to know…you have to know who to listen to and who not to. Some people have good ideas. You gotta trust your instincts.\u201d It’s not to say that you won\u2019t get knocked down a peg or two, you will. Writing is a practice in delusion-in-moderation. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Young writers hone their craft in academic settings that don’t allow for delusion. Ironically, professors and teachers often provide some sort of outside source of delusion. Grading isn’t critique, it\u2019s strategic reinforcement. What Jeff is saying is different. You need delusion from the self, and you need to believe you’re good. Eventually outside forces, friends, editors, the Internet, will knock you down, and you’re left to either quit or continue the delusion with a heightened level of self-reflection. Maybe I’m putting words in Jeff\u2019s mouth. Maybe I’m delusional. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The Shots Fired podcast crew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I asked Jeff what he thinks of online writing. For most aspiring young writers, the online realm provides the best chance to break into serious writing. For Jeff, it can be a personal hell; \u201cIf you want to be a good writer, don\u2019t read anything on the internet. Read dead people.\u201d We talked about Buzzfeed, the Odyssey. The journalistic Sarlacc pits of the internet. He didn\u2019t even seem to want to discuss them. To Jeff, good writing is hard to find online. I felt a bit guilty at this point. Aside from the book I keep on my nightstand, almost everything I read is online. <\/span><\/p>\n

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He also recognizes the benefits of writing online. It’s hard to find good writing online,\u201cbut it also makes the good stuff sometimes more uncompromised.\u201d Your writing can\u2019t be skewered by editors with agendas that don\u2019t match yours. \u00a0You have untethered opportunity, \u201conline made it so you don\u2019t need to have your dad know someone…You could just start a blog and say fuck it…You can go around editors sometimes…It\u2019s empowering. It is democratizing.\u201d While online writing is generally bad, the ability to self-publish had made writing a more egalitarian practice. The quality just needs to catch up. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Jeff does laud Grantland<\/a> for its model of bringing in a handful of good writers and allowing them to write about whatever they choose. If you want to find good online writing, head there (that\u2019s a cruel joke…Grantland closed down earlier this year). <\/span><\/p>\n

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Jeff admits that his own writing was once bad. He tells me that he once wrote a novel, prior to 2005. He doesn\u2019t mention much more, but from the tone of his voice I could tell he wasn\u2019t about to send me a copy. He tells me he\u2019s also written hundreds of poems, which he says are equally as bad. Although he started his blog in 2005, he claims his writing didn\u2019t even start getting good until 2008 or 2009, years into a career as a journalist and a writer. When I ask if he feels he could teach writing, he evokes a quote from a dead author, \u201cAs much as a golf pro can correct the flaws in your swing, you know? And that\u2019s sort of how you can do writing or editing. You can\u2019t make someone a good writer, it\u2019s all internal, but you kind of have to push them in the right direction. Hopefully they do the rest of the work. It\u2019s hard.\u201d What really makes your writing good, he says, is reading a lot and writing a lot. They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. But to be a good writer you\u2019ll have to put in 10,000 hours of reading <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>writing. That\u2019s two and a quarter years. Start now. <\/span><\/p>\n

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The truth about writing is that it won\u2019t be good if you aren\u2019t writing about what interests you. It could be well-written. It could be enjoyable. But it won\u2019t be good writing. I asked Jeff how he chooses what to write about, \u201c\u201cuse your own…narcissism to make it about you. For me it\u2019s more about trying to write something that I\u2019m proud of. I\u2019m trying to do stuff that makes me want to remember why I was a writer. Which is stuff that has more imagination, creativity, and less linear \u2018this is a review, this is a think piece.\u2019\u201d It was what he said after, however, that struck me the most, \u201cYou have to love writing first.\u201d Most people think writing is a vehicle for illustrating your interests. For Jeff, writing is a vehicle for writing; an interest in itself. <\/span><\/p>\n

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I liked this sentiment because it flies in the face of conventional online journalism, where sites like the Odyssey<\/a> take in young writers and tell them to, \u201cShare, share share! After all, what’s the point of writing if your work is not read? Right? Right!\u201d Write because it interests you. Write because it\u2019s therapeutic. Write because words sound awesome together in your head. Share it if you like, but don\u2019t write for the pure sake of sharing. I, like Jeff, have hundreds of poems spread throughout various notebooks, homework assignments, and Google documents. Even if I don\u2019t show them to people, they exist as practice and pleasure. That is just as important as writing for others. <\/span>
\nPassion of the Weiss\u2019 tagline reads, \u201cEven when I was wrong, I got my point across<\/a>,\u201d which seems to tie everything together. You don’t necessarily have to be <\/span>right<\/span><\/i>, you just have to be honest. Certainly don’t go making up facts, but don’t worry if you make mistakes. Writing is a learning process. Just work on getting your point across. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jeff Weiss is a writer by definition. By vocation. His work is a product of passion when he has time, and a work of dedication when he doesn’t. He doesn’t claim to be an expert, but he does have experience. He was a staff writer at a business blog. He worked for free for the … Continue reading A Healthy Streak of Delusion: An Interview With Jeff Weiss<\/span><\/a>\"\" Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"uncategorized","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[110480],"tags":[109703],"class_list":["post-3331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-uncategorized","hentry","category-student-blog-project-2015","tag-syndicated","post_format-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/wrpg211\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}