Amanda’s Comments (group member since Nov 05, 2014)

Amanda’s comments from the Ask Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman group.

Laragh wrote: "Okay, one more question for A and N.. What computer program/ device or method do you use to write? Neil, I read somewhere that you write on paper and then type it up..? Xx"

i'm a mac fanatic. i'm on an air right now but also have a powerbook for deskwork. i was a mess for this book: i started in pages, then moved to scrivener (on the recommendation of many people on twitter) then moved to word. it was a fucking mess. my editor and i also used evernote a lot and we found ourselves wishing we had written the entire book in evernote. track changes was a helpful tool but the BANE of our existence for a while, because it kept crashing and we'd lose work. i journal in black notebooks, don't care much about the brand...i used cheap black hardback sketchbooks forever and then moved to moleskine and currently have a leuchtturm because the bookstore i went it to grab a new journal didnt have the moleskine i like (totally blank pages). when i wrote songs, i use printer paper and then do final drafts in EMAIL, of all things. my songs live in my email folders. i know it's weird. shhhh.

neil writes his stories books longhand in a journal then types them up in second draft form on a macbook air. if he's got an article or blog, though, he just types on the mac. he uses libra office.

Chelsea wrote: "Amanda,
Now that you've completed a work of non-fiction, are you considering writing anything more creative, and if so, would you consider writing anything young adult? I think you have a voice tha..."

i honestly have no idea. i've never been drawn towards fiction but i can understand more and more why one might be, and since i like challenges, i might give that a whirl at some point. but i'm always interested to see how i can test the limits of my own non-fiction voice. i started getting a new idea while i was writing this one....a much funnier, darker book. but honestly, thinking about writing a second book right now is like asking a woman who's just been through labor if she plans to have another child soon. right now i just want a fucking nap.

Lauren wrote: "My question is for Amanda; how does your approach to writing a book differ from your approach to writing a song? Are there any similarities?

Thanks very much!"

this is such a great question, and i was so curious to feel the creative differences between songwriting and blog-writing and twitter-writing and book-writing. a song or a poem is dense and short enough that there's really only room for so many threads, ingredients and images, and i'm used to that density. trying to thread together the book with so many ingredients was really hard on my brain, because it was going from 6 spinning plates in the air to 6,666...so many things to keep track of and remember. it made me truly understand why neil vanishes as a human being when he's in the middle of a book, there's just too much of your brain keeping things connected - and it's delicate. if a plate falls, an idea breaks, a connection frays, it's devastating.

i also noticed that i wrote my book LIKE a song...in little verses with choruses and refrains. that's how my head works. i can't imagine i'll ever write a book exactly like this again, because it's format is so unique a strange, with so many stories and ideas threaded together so uniquely....but that's also why i'm proud of it. it could only be what it was...once.

Akemi wrote: "Hi Neil and Amanda!

I have a very simple question for the both of you, and I hope the answer has some sort of interesting story as to why, though if not I would just like to know, what are each of..."

i really like stegosaureses, because they look so peaceful.

i just asked neil, and he likes those too, and specifically his professor steg in "fortunately, the milk".

(professor steg freaks me out a little. but i'm weird.)

Dan wrote: "o/ Hi Amanda and Neil!!!

@Amanda, I read somewhere wherein you talking about antidepressents killing any creative urge. Since I am currently going through this, what do suggest I do to become crea..."

this is a really dicey topic, because so many people do truly need meds to survive and/or balance out.

but i think there's a lot of answers to this...really seeing art as therapy can help. i've used songwriting as self-therapy since age 14 and it worked out for me. :) depending on your art form, you might consider really digging in and writing/painting ABOUT your depression, about your struggles, and making art directly out of the darkness. this art doesn't even need to be good, or shared, just MADE. sometimes that can be incredibly healing and liberating. just do the equivalent of splattering blood on the wall without having to paint a shape.

Chelle wrote: "Amanda, I am about half way through the audio book of The Art of Asking. I have to say I have been moved to tears several times and laughed probably just as many times. It has come to me at the p..."

you know, sometimes you just gotta say aloud when you're feeling mocked or hurt. neil does this to me all the time when my teasing pushes him over the edge and i back off, apologize, and give him a hug. and sometimes it's the other way around...but i have to come right out and say it: "neil...you're hurting my feelings. i know you think it's funny but...ow."

i was recently on the phone with my sister and we were talking about my addiction to closure and how i keep insisting on asking for compassion and forgiveness from people who don't want to give it and she laughed and said "amanda, you're an attention-seeking-missile" and the comment really stung. so before i let myself get all pissy and defensive and angry at her, i just told her right then and there. i said: "alyson...ow. that hurt my feelings. i don't feel like i'm an attention-seeking-missile...i feel like i need closure from people. when you say that it drives me crazy and hurts my feelings." and she immediately backed up and the conversation took a hilarious turn, and now we have a new private joke: i'm a "compassion-seeking-missile". which is perfect, right? i'm still an idiot, but at least my intentions are good....

anyway. in the moment can really work wonders.

Darcy wrote: "Dear Neil and Amanda,

This is mostly just a thank you. I went to the pre-release party for The Art of Asking as well as the signing at Porter Square Books. I've just moved to Boston, to get my MBA..."

i just read this one aloud to neil. we both send you a hug in the hopes that it will make you feel something. and if i may be so bold as to make a suggestion: try a hot yoga practice. it breaks open the feels. something about the movement and the heat and the chest opening. if you're in boston, go to baptiste: http://www.baronbaptiste.com/ and try to catch a class with gregor, clare, emily or pilar. they;re all wonderful. (i even thank them in my book).

Christina wrote: "Good afternoon!

A question for both of you: How do you like your coffee?"

neil only does TEA. he likes it english-y and with milk.

i've been a coffee fiend all my life and am into the cortado (or if you're australian: the strong flat white). strong espresso, that is, with a little bit of hot thick milk to cut it. no sugar unless the coffee is terrible. then the sugar works as a crutch.

Rosie wrote: "Hello to you both
Thank you for being so engaging
This one particularly is more for Amanda- do you ever get tired of being so open? I know it's a massive part of your life, but does that ever drain..."

i'm honestly never more open than i want to be. i never feel compelled to share that which i'd rather keep to myself. but my thresholds and limits are, obviously, different from the person standing next to me. we all have different levels of intro/extroversion and i think i've found a pretty happy balance that works for me. the funny thing is: you have no idea how open i'm NOT being about certain things because, well, you know....i don't talk about them. and i don't go out of my way to talk about what i'm not talking about, if you get my drift.

Jemima wrote: "DEAREST Amanda,
I have grown up with your music and ethos from the beginning of The Dresden Dolls to now- I find your voice enchanting and you give me great comfort when I need it the most.
My qu..."

i've been a voracious reader all my life, and i loved writing short stories and poems and songs when i was a child, but i starting focusing more on songwriting and theater as i hit 15, 16, 17. i started a journal in about 1996 and have never traveled without one since - i've got a stack of them a mile high.

and i barely wrote anything but songs until the dresden dolls started touring in 2001, at which point i started blogging. having blogged for that long, i can look back and see that the voice of this book (the art of asking) is pretty much an extension of my blogging voice. in fact when i first sat down to write the first draft of this book, i started writing it

In my articulate, well-read, highly-education university voice, using capitals and all that...nonsense. Writing well. Using all manner of correct punctuation.

and then I realized that i wasn't writing like myself...because in all my years of blogging shit, i'd never written like that when i was trying to get am emotional point across. so i was just like: amanda, stop. you're not writing like you. you can go back and edit, and clean, and capitalize later. just write like you write on your blog. that's who you are.

and i did. it's also why the editing process was so agonizing. :)

Iris wrote: "Dear Neil Gaiman, which of the many books that you've written is your favorite? I have not read all of your works but I am extremely partial to Stardust, myself.

Dear Amanda Palmer, which of the m..."

i'll type for both of us....

neil says....
favorite neil thing: the sleeper and the spindle
favorite amanda thing: the bed song

amanda says....
favorite neil thing: the ocean at the end of the lane
favorite amanda thing: always hard to pick, but i love the dresden dolls song Half Jack. it never gets old.

Donald wrote: "As writers are you ever plagued by self doubt? The feeling that what you've just written (song/novel/short story, etc.) just doesn't live up to your expectations? If so, how do you combat that fe..."

oh good lord, yes. i just had a nice long discussion last night with armistead maupin about this, he was at my book tour show at the JCC in san fran (what an amazing writer and man...aghhhh). short story: yes. we are all constantly plagued by self-doubt, and it doesn't go away. i related the story about how i think neil's even worse than me in this department...i don't ever really get that sinking feeling that my songwriting skills will vanish. but neil's told me that he fears he'll sit down to write a book and the chops to write will have just vanished. (at which point i'm like: "really? you're neil gaiman. how many books will you need to write before that goes away?" answer: "∞"). i think it's just part of the artistic process, and probably healthy. if we didn't have the fuel of doubt, we might not run.

Ami wrote: "Welcome to the group! Amanda and Neil will be answering questions on Friday, November 21st in this thread only. In the meantime if you have a question for them, or just want to introduce yourself, ..."

thanks ami! we're heeeeeeerrreeeeee