32 Comments
Oct 5, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

Boiling cauldron of ego oil. Incredible. I'm going to throw this into conversation as much as I can.

I'm currently at a work conference and I was just chatting to a colleague after he gave a talk and his response to my question was "Well, given I'm the world leader in XYZ ..." (I won't say what XYZ is, in case somehow he's reading this). It was just so serious and arrogant that my opinion of him -- despite his excellent work -- just tanked.

He's probably on LinkedIn a lot 😅

Expand full comment
author

Probably! That's quite a claim. I sometimes claim to be an expert, but world leader? Wow!

Expand full comment
Oct 6, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

Yeah I really think you have to be able to read the room. He also just assumed I had zero knowledge of the area he was discussing when in fact I actually teach it to undergraduates 🤦‍♂️

Expand full comment
author

People and their assumptions!

Expand full comment
Oct 3, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

"I always feel I need a wash when I’ve been exposed to this kind of self-promotion." "..self-praise is no recommendation..." There is such a fine line between trying to simply get your self out there in the mix vs banging one's own drum ad infinitum. Tricky business! A volatile issue. I never heard of Spike Milligan, but that clip was both hilarious and touching. Thanks for another great post, Your Worship.

Expand full comment
author

Yes, very funny and also touching. Thanks Sharron

Expand full comment
author

He was hilarious to the end. The epitaph on his tombstone reads "I told you I was ill"

Expand full comment

I agree, Terry, self promotion is becoming ubiquitous is very off-putting. I have never been on linkedin but I have unsubscribed or blocked certain substack writers who seem to dominate my notes feed (if that's what it's called.)

Three, four, five pronouncements, announcements or navel gazings per day? Yeah, no thanks.

I enjoyed your collaboration with Mitchell Allen, he's one of my favorites. I have forwarded that section to my grandson, who will attempt to explain it to me when I see him next.

Thank you sir, have a great week.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, Jim. I think several per day navel gazings is excessive. If the posts give value I think it can be ok

Expand full comment

Another fun read. Loved the video too. Thanks Terry.

Expand full comment
author

Thanks Beth!

Expand full comment

Did you come across my ShamelessSelfPromo on LinkedIn? Yes, I’m one of those. I’d like to think that it’s more about giving folks a chuckle rather than my ego. I may give up as I believe that in 6 months I’ve gained 1 subscriber from LinkedIn. Hehehe. Looking forward to your next repartee with Rebecca Holden.

Expand full comment
author

No! Can you provide a link please? It sounds like a laugh 😁

Expand full comment

Another very enjoyable start to the week, Terry. I'm still laughing at the Spike Milligan video a full ten minutes after watching it!

I'm so pleased that you've tracked down your friend Carol - that's remarkable. 'An oasis of humour and cynicism' is the perfect compliment! 😁

I'm going to enjoy exploring those links - thank you - and thank you too for linking to 'Dear Reader, I'm lost'. 😊

'Universally panned'? My comment was pretty positive, I'd say! 😜

Expand full comment
author

It's great isn't it? 😂 panned: I did put in a postscript in a footnote!

Expand full comment

Yeah, I'll admit that I'd spotted it but still wanted to pipe up to defend myself...! 🤣

Expand full comment

Terry you've gone and made me blush now 😅 Thank you for the kind and unexpected mention. I'm not sure if it's my synesthesia or my overly active metaphor-generative neurons that conjured up the boiling oil, but the ego oozing from every corner of the Internet does feel like that to me. It's hot, it's oily, and it burns. And it gets routinely dumped from the battlements of social media onto the ever advancing army of wanna-be's and me-too's. 🏰 The rest of us either stand aside and try not to watch the brawls, or quietly slip inside the fortress... via the secret passageways of genuine conversation. 😉

Expand full comment
author

You have such a lovely way with worxs, Birgitte 😃

Expand full comment

Terry, thanks for pointing people to McCaulley’s memoir! It’s tremendous.

Expand full comment
author

You're welcome, Joel. It sounds it.

Expand full comment

Thank you very much for the mention... I fact I subscribed to Charlene Storey and Kayte Ferris just on your mention of them. As for writing 1. I have a back list to go through. 2. As a blogger from 2004-6 the idea of doing 1 piece is child's play. Bopnew's (Blogging of the President) had the crew down from 1 an hour. That included Chris Lydon and Matt Stoller. I am doing 1 short story a day for this week all freshly written. https://stirlingnewberry.substack.com/p/the-wicked-pavilion is the lastest...

Expand full comment
author

Thanks, I'll have a read soon. I don't have problem with writing and publishing an article every day, as long as it's nonfiction. I could never manage a story a day. Hats off to you!

Expand full comment

It is a discpline.

Expand full comment
author

I have discipline, but not fiction ideas every day

Expand full comment
Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman

The amount is based on the artist. Some authors write only 1 novel and others write many.

Expand full comment
author

Very true

Expand full comment

So, don't worry about how much worry about quantity. I know this is heretical here with some but I would take 1 short story that signs rather than 100 which muddle. Think of "Born of Man and Woman" or "The Story of an Hour" or a dozen others.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Thanks Mitch. Well, people learn how to play the system don't they. I suppose looked at in one way, enabling them to do that means you're providing an excellent educational experience

Expand full comment