An interview with Fred Terryman

By Terry Freedman

This article was written as a contribution to the Soaring Twenties (STSC) Symposium. This month’s Symposium theme is “habit.” The STSC is a group of creatives who write, paint, versify and experiment their way through life. Join us!

Fred Terryman. Photographer unknown.

This is a transcript of a conversation between Fred Terryman and myself. It’s been lightly edited, with the pauses taken out for ease of reading.

Me: So, Fred, it’s great to meet you in person at last!

Fred: Yeah, it’s a gas, man. Gimme some skin.

Me: I’d like us to discuss the habits someone has to develop in order to become a writer who is taken seriously and be successful. But first, can you tell us why you wanted to be a writer in the first place?

Fred: No sweat, man. Well, I was raised to dig books, even before I could read, and one day I read a book called A Box for Benny in which this young dude spends like nearly a hundred pages looking for a box, and I was like, “This is hot, man, this is so hot it’s like a furnace”. It was so groovy I was turned on straight away, and I just had to get me a piece of the action.

Me: Er, right. So how did you go about getting a piece of the action?

Fred: Well, first of all, when I was green, I just wrote stuff in my school exercise book that was copied from proper books, but then one day I was like “I don’t wanna be a rip-off merchant bad ass dude one percenter loser no more.” That’s when I put my head straight and got me some good habits.

Me: And what were or are those habits?

Fred: Oh brother, listen real good cos I’m gonna to clue you in. Got your nib ready?

Me: I do indeed.

Fred: Far out. Now grip this. The number one secret of being a writer is that you got to write. Ain’t no use dragging a notebook around and writing stuff down all the time if ain’t nobody ever gonna read it. You know there all these cats who walk around taking notes of everything they hear on the sidewalk and scribing their ideas but none of that stuff makes it out of the notepad. There are some cats and chicks who keep a diary and then make with the twirl in some uptight spot. I mean, what the heck, man? Ain’t nothing gonna get eyeballs if it ain’t nowhere any eyeballs can dig it. So the number one habit of the most successful writers is that they write.

Me: Right.

Fred. That’s what I just said, man, write. Is there some kinda echo in here?

Me: Are there any other habits a writer should cultivate?

Fred: Cultivate? I ain’t no pothead, man, so I don’t know nothing about cultivation.

Me: Is there anything else a writer should do?

Fred: Well, you gotta read a lot or you won’t grok nothing. If you don’t grok nothing you can’t write nothing except what’s in your head, man, and if your head ain’t straight then ain’t nothing you write gonna be straight, especially if you’re a pothead, which I ain’t.

Me: How do you cope with people giving your stuff bad reviews?

Fred: Happens all the time, man. One minute you’re like completely stoked cos someone dug your vibe and that’s a real blast, and then the next minute you’re like totaled because of a bummer of a review, but you just gotta go with the flow, man, and keep on truckin’ and let your freak flag fly.

Me: So to summarise, to become a successful writer and be taken seriously as a writer you have to write. Is that all?

Fred: You’ve missed the point, man. You gotta get into the habit of writing, that’s for sure, but you also gotta publish what you write, and then whatever anyone says about it, even it’s a real downer, you just get up, get your threads on, and start all over again.

Me: And you do this every day?

Fred: Every day, man, and nix out on the fade with drumming up excuses.

Me: So write, publish, repeat?

Fred: Right on, man, keep with it, and if you notice your head swelling from some cat saying your stuff blew their mind, just get off of it, man.

Me: Well thank you so much for your time, and for sharing your advice.

Fred: This has been a real happening, man. I dig your vibe.

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It was a bit difficult at times understanding what Fred said, because he is still a hippy. I had to use a few online glossaries to help me:

Hippy slangs (from the 60’s till today)

The Acid Heads Wordbook

Hippie Words, Quotes, and Phrases (or How to Talk Like a Hippie)

Fortunately, I did remember the meaning of the expressions “make with the twirl in some uptight spot” (lock it up in a safe place) and “nix out on the fade” (stop doing something) from an article in a newspaper many years ago. Apparently, surfers in Cornwall were having their cars stolen because they were leaving them out in the open and unlocked. So the police put a notice up which began, “Grip this”, and advised surfers to nix out on the fade with leaving their cars unlocked but to make with the twirl in some uptight spot. I have no idea whether or not the notice achieved its aim.

Thanks for reading!