Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for January 11, 2013
January 10, 2013
January 12, 2013
Transcript:
Jeff: Truth is, Zip, I can't shake my writer's block. Still got ideas, but no execution! I used to be able to knock 'em out of the park. Now I only got warning-track power. Zipper: Hold it right there, son! Jeff: What? Zipper: If you supposedly can't write, then where did that slick baseball analogy just come from? Jeff: I... I don't know. Zipper: You just tossed it off! Like a freakin' Hemingwad!
Think maybe Jeff represents one aspect of Trudeau’s own personality? I’m a commercially published book author, and I sometimes have feelings exactly like Jeff’s. And I know exactly what writer’s block is. It’s easy for armchair critics to scoff ignorantly at Jeff. These problems are real and and they are common. Even though Trudeau is extremely successful, he may still be expressing these concerns through the fictional character of Jeff Redfern.
Also through Jeff’s father, Rick Redfern, who’s also a writer. Genetics (or nature) + environment (or nurture) = the way a person turns out in life.