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Ring Psychology

by Aaron Hall

Volume Eight: T.M.F.T. Syndrome Writing, like any other artistic or creative undertaking, is far from an exact science. I in no way believe myself to be a master of the game or a voice of authority on the dos and don’ts of writing. This column is simply me sharing with all of you some of the things that I’ve picked up along the way that seem to help me out. Use them, abuse them, make fun of them, or sell them on eBay. Now, on to the article! “T.M.F.T. Syndrome” Be with me if you will. It’s 3:45 pm on a Friday afternoon. You’re sitting in your office, finishing up the last of your work. It was a hectic week and there were points where you weren’t quite sure you were going to get through it. The fifteen minutes pass, and you head home. You grab a cold drink, maybe something to eat, and kick back on the couch. Maybe watch a dvd you’ve rented from Netflix or perhaps your favorite syndicated show like The Simpsons or maybe Friends. Your buddy calls you up and invites you to see the newest flick that just opened up. Sounds good, so you head out to the multiplex and watch a film and enjoy the company of your buds. Afterwards they’re all heading over to a 24 hour eatery, so you tag along. Everyone’s in a fun mood and glad to be off work, lots of laughs and jokes. Finally it’s time to head home, so you say goodbye and get back to your apartment or house. You check your email and a few of your favorite websites for updates, maybe read a comic book. Then it’s time to head to bed. You wake up late Saturday afternoon and veg out in front of the television for a while, watching a baseball game or a movie. You get up, grab something to eat, maybe do the dishes or head out to do some laundry. You run to the grocery store, maybe go to a local Best Buy and look at dvd’s and cd’s, maybe pick up a new videogame. You head home, put up your clean clothes or newly bought groceries, then pop in your new game just to check it out. A few hours go by and you turn it off, grab something to eat for dinner before getting cleaned up to go out on a date with your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband. After a great night on the town, you head home, unwind a bit, then head to bed. Now, what’s wrong with that above scenario? If you’re just a regular joe, then hey, nothing, more power to you. But if you’re a writer or an artist, this scenario simply can’t happen every weekend. It’s representative of what I’ve dubbed T.M.F.T. Syndrome or, Too Much Free Time Syndrome. And trust me, this thing is terminal. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s no problem with hanging with your pals or your special someone. There’s no problem with watching some television and there’s no problem with playing videogames. The problem comes when you find yourself doing all of the above at the same time. I’ve had a bad case of T.M.F.T. this particular weekend. Friday was spent going to the comic shop, then out to dinner with friends, then to the bookstore with friends, then back to the apartment to hang out with friends, then we played poker, then we all listened to some music and talked. On Saturday, my dad, brother, and nephew came over. We all grabbed lunch together, watched some Nascar, and just generally hung out for two or three hours. After that I played a card game with my roommate, watched some Netflix dvd’s, read some comic books, did some cleaning, then watched a movie. Notice what I didn’t do in all of that time. I didn’t write. Sure, I had time to do a ton of stuff and my writing career isn’t over just because I took two days off, but the fact is, two days can easily lead to two weeks, which leads to two months, and so on. I found myself this very evening asking myself, what else is there I can do? I had read some comics, watched some television, played some videogames, even went to my new office for a bit. Then it hit me, I have way too much free time this weekend. It may be the best thing in the world to most people, but if you’re a serious and committed writer or artist it’s terrible. Now before you panic and start writing out your living will, listen up. I have some great news. There’s a cure. It’s called “do it”. Write, draw, outline, sketch, read about writing, study an art book. Turn off the ringer, turn off the television, turn off the Xbox, put the do not disturb sign on your front door and DO IT. By doing this you will find that your T.M.F.T. syndrome is gone as can be and you’re back to being productive once again. And if you feel the need to thank me for telling you about the cure, you can buy my comic books when they come out. And anything else I ever write or do… you can buy that too. The truth of the matter is, we live in a society of distractions. Advertisements, commercials, billboards, neon signs, pop up ads. It seems like humanity has invented billions of ways to waste time and do absolutely nothing while you’re wasting it. That may be alright with some people, but if you’re reading this article chances are you’re someone who’s creative and I know for a fact that wasting time is something creators don’t like to do. Every minute wasted is a minute I wasn’t doing what I was born to do. I don’t know how much you all care, but for me that’s just unacceptable. Until next time, this is the president of the Norman Rigby fan club and the only person who knows who Norman Rigby is, Aaron Hall, signing off. If you have any questions or comments about creating comics feel free to email them to freejenkins@gmail.com and I’ll answer them right here in this very column because yes, I care about you that much.