Hi Everyone,
If you don’t know who Harlan Ellison is then look him up because you know his work. This is what I mean.
Harlan Ellison is a fantastic fantasy writer. I love his work, and I am not a fan of fantasy. He is that good. And the reason he is that good, is two-fold. One is that Harlan wrote at least 1,000 words everyday. The other is that he did that for over 50 years! He was such a dedicated writer that he missed dinners, outings and the like because he did whatever it took to meet a deadline. Even when he had chest pains and most likely should have gone straight to the doctors, he kept writing until he was done. A few days after he was lectured by his doctor, he had open heart surgery.
As I rewatched some of his interviews online this morning, I was reminded that he had a great heart, an amazing sense of humour and the ability to say it like it is. That got him in trouble more than once and gave him a reputation for being combative. Personally, I think that the world needs more people to state the facts, the obvious and not mince words. If we are all getting older, why do so many of us insist on wasting everyone’s time with the endless handholding, and handling everyone with kid gloves? Harlan had it right. Don’t mince words. Just say it so everyone can get on with their lives. In my opinion, people really should toughen up.
Another thing that I really liked in one of Harlan’s interviews was that he believed that in order to understand the world one had to get out into it. It seems that he has a real aversion to people who work in cubicles and don’t deal with people face to face. “Get a real job!” is one of his favourite lines.
According to Mr. Ellison, writing is a real job. He should know since he wrote non-stop for years. His list of works goes on for pages! But I have to admit, he is right. Writing is a job and it is not always easy. After watching a few of his interviews he has made it easier for me. Many writers will say that they have, or get writers block. He never believed in that and since I heard him say that, I no longer get it. And really writers block was a bit of a cop-out answer, solution for me.
If you would like to know more about Harlan Ellison do an online search and watch a few YouTube videos. He was a fighter and I highly doubt he will rest in peace. It is not his style.
Harlan Ellison was born on May 27th, 1934 and passed away on June 28th, 2018. He was 84.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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