DJ: Ever since I was a kid, I liked making up stories, or, as some would call it, "lying." And that's kind of how I view writing. In fact, when I talk about me being a "writer," I say I "make up stuff." Is that how it started for you guys? Just enjoying telling lies?

Adam: Well, I started writing twice, for different reasons. The second time really was just to tell stories. That's still how I define myself. I tell stories. Whatever form they happen to take: fiction or comics or whatever. If I could draw, I would. But since my only talent is writing (and that's questionable some days), I write to facilitate the story telling.

DJ: It's also easier on the knees than telling stories via interpretive dance.

Adam: Which I have done in the past, as both of you well know.

Dustin: I had a pretty active imagination as a kid, but I was never really into storytelling. It wasn't until toward the end of college that I started writing as a form of recreation. Some would label it as a form of assault, but I maintain that I was doing it for fun. I guess you could possibly label it as “writing sadistically.”

DJ: It was earlier for me -- in grade school kids would be find having to write a paper miserable, while I'd often have fun with it and then, when the teacher wouldn't give us writing assignments as often as I wanted, I started writing on my own. Some of my friends thought that insane.

Dustin: Yeah, that strikes me as being an oddity in a kid.

Adam: The first time I started writing I was a little kid, too. But my father was a writer, so it was simply something I thought everyone did and that I had to do. Not the best of reasons. I remember being on a playground and him telling me to finish a story before I went and played. It might be why I stopped for a number of years eventually (and why in that interim I did some interpretive dance).

DJ: Yeah, I can see that. If it's something you're being told to do, it becomes less fun. Which is why I stopped my own burgeoning interpretive dancing career short when Dustin insisted on becoming my manager in, what was it? 2001, Dustin? The joy was gone, and it was about the money, booze, chicks, and booze.

Dustin: And I, frankly, ended up taking most of that from him in commission. Anyhow, I played with Legos as a kid. When I did things with a writing implement, it was much more likely to be some form of art. I was big into cartooning back then.

Adam: You guys kid about the interpretive dance. I... I uhh... well, don't. I had this routine: The life cycle of a chicken. It was a big hit. Damn it. But, sorry, so why the shift from art to writing? D.J. draws, too, right? I'm the only non-artistic hack here, correct?

DJ: I'd wake up early before school just to get drawing time in. I drew constantly... then I started writing and doing illustrations for what I wrote. It was all connected. I think at some point I realized I was either too lazy or untalented to draw comics for a living, but I've delusionally (?) refused even lo these many years to accept that when it comes to the writing. The writing started coming easier to me or ended up more what I wanted it to be than my drawings did.

Dustin: I quit drawing because my "talent" for visual art never developed beyond, say, a middle-school level -- at least in my opinion. I was doing a few rudimentary cartoons of people in college, but that wasn't anything stellar or serious.

DJ: It was fun, though, right? And that's fine. I decided to accept that I drew for fun. But writing? It's fun, but I also felt more serious about it and still do.

Adam: That is so interesting to me. I mean in a lot of ways my only outlet for creativity has been to write it out. I've never had an ounce of artistic talent. My stick figures suck, even. So if I wanted to share an idea I had to write it or spend all day explaining what my scribbles were supposed to be.

DJ: Some lucky folks can get an idea across with a quick, fun doodle. I have to write a few hundred words. I have artist envy, to be perfectly honest.

Dustin: I probably could have tried harder to make drawing work, but I think I would have wound up as an inker.

DJ: Yeah, I thought about that, too, but writing just seemed more interesting to me. Not just comics: books, stories, movies -- just entertaining people with words.

Dustin: I think I was bored.

DJ: It's better than turning to drugs. Which I later did anyway.

Adam: I find a freedom in writing, personally. It's that kick in the discovery. Sharing whole worlds with people. Building fake people for others to read about and having them treat and take them as people, not constructs... there's a power there.

DJ: Yes, that’s the joy of it. At one point I thought about getting into journalism, but that telling the truth just didn't strike my fancy. I agree it’s fun to create new people or write versions of yourself that aren't really true.

Dustin: See, this is what I think really separates me from the two of you -- and I've kind of had this thought for a while -- while I do write as a form of creative expression, it really is, no shit, mostly because I was bored and needed something to do. You two are in it for the game while I just started because I had nothing better to do, and I think I only keep writing right now out of some perverse sense of obligation.

DJ: Obligation? To honing your craft and getting better or discovering new ways to express yourself? Or obligation to the footnote and our little empire or something?

Dustin: It’s a sense of obligation to the footnote and following through on what I’ve started. I feel that the background work isn’t enough -- I need to represent in each update.

Adam: Huh. Well, I dunno I mean, I don't know that I will ever fully unbind writing from "kid expectations," so it is all colored for me, man. I've been writing to tell stories for as long as I've been around, pretty much. When yer dad says, "Come up with your own," when you ask for a bedtime story, you learn to make up stories to entertain. It's just how the world works for me, like it or not.

DJ: In a way, I think that was kind of cool of him, though I'm sure sometimes you had to be like, "C'mon, just tell me one so's I can fall asleep, man!"

Adam: And he did sometimes, but he also forced me to learn to make up my own. Not sure if that was healthy or not, but whatever.

DJ: Maybe he saw a lil' writer in you. I think it's better than a dad trying to force his chubby, unathletic son to play tee ball when he really wanted to play Superman, but maybe I'm projecting. I mean, it helped guide you to where you are now, so, it was healthy or positive in some respects. For reals.

Dustin: Yeah, I think that's sort of neat. It's like you were being shown how to utilize your imagination? Not many people get that sort of guide.

DJ: Yeah. I don't come from a writerly family, and that might've been nice (not that I’d trade my fam or anything). Lots of imagination in the house.

Adam: It is kinda cool. Now. But remember I said I started writing twice? I stopped at once point because I realized he had gotten published at X age, and I hadn't, so I was a failure and so on. It crippled me for close to eight years there. I just didn't write. I only really got out of that hole fiction-wise maybe five years ago. So I lost eight years worth of time to learn because of all of that kid stuff.

DJ: The age issue is dangerous. There is a part of me that reads a book or published story by a writer younger than me, and suddenly I start thinking, "Why is this guy having success so young? Where's my success, Lord???" And then I eat burritos.

Dustin: It's a fine line to walk with that -- the age factor can be what drives you to succeed, but it can also be a ball and chain. I come from an artistic family, but it's strongly biased towards music. My mother did teach language arts for a time, though, and she's always been sort of a closeted writer. She had collection of poetry self-published at one point.

DJ: Neat. My fam is swell, but... nope. Not artistic, and admittedly so.

Adam: And D.J., see, that, to me, is cool, too, though. You found this all and found it in you FIRST. It's kinda purer even for that. And, Dustin, you are also a musician, no? See you have it all the way around, come on. That kinda rocks. That has to color how you attack each part of it, no?

DJ: Yeah, music, art, writing, hand modeling -- you've done some acting... Damn, DGrove!

Dustin: Well, it does -- I have no problems claiming that I am a professional musician, because I earn a significant portion of my income because of that. It's what I went and allegedly studied to obtain a degree. The writing thing is completely on the side, although if I were to say I had one skill, one tool that transcends everything that I do, it's an ability to write pretty well. Can't say that musical talent is that pervasive.

DJ: Yeah, I wouldn't say I have a filing talent, but I make more money from that than writing.

Adam: Thank god we all have other ways to make money, otherwise we'd be homeless.

DJ: Hmmm... perhaps. Three people, two red-headed, all from different backgrounds, all writing for different reasons... all great dancers. We all started writing for fun, because that's why kids do things. Dustin, you mentioned obligation, but do you guys still have some of that fun writing now? Or is it secretly for fame, glory, and a room full of gold coins to swim through?

Dustin: In terms of the obligation, I do have fun writing now -- the issue is that I feel like doing it with increasingly less frequency.

Adam: Oh sure, if I just wrote when I felt like it I'd never get anything done. I had to think of it as a job to really get a push going. As much as I love it, I love laziness, too.

Dustin: Sadly, I wish it was laziness that was filling that void, but it's other things like family, home, and generating income. I think I will always keep writing in some way because it's one of my primary forms of creative expression, but it just takes longer for that pot of water to come to a boil.

Adam: Whereas I have stripped my life so far down to just the day job, writing and uhm... writing that when I don't write now I have almost nothing else to do with my time. Except drink.

Dustin: I've at least found that drinking, too, is something that can transcend a lot of different actions. But writing's really the easiest -- I can just sit down and start typing if I feel like it. I can't say the same for things like composing music, because that requires a very particular headspace for me, plus it's much harder to do.

DJ: Well, you do what's important to you. Taking up your time with writing is swell, as is family. Both great ways to spend time on this silly planet. And drinking is involved in most of the things I do. Also, about the composing music, while it's harder for you (and impossible for me), I bet there are composers who couldn't write a short story or a book, you know?

Dustin: Well, I bet they could -- it's just a matter of whether or not they'd be good at it.

Adam: They'd probably be better at it than I would at composing.

DJ: It's just that writing's something everyone thinks everyone can do, and it's not. But, technically, most people can write words. Which is why I wish I could draw or compose. No, not really. Wait -- kind of.

Adam: Oh, untrue. I am a snob, D.J. I don't think everyone can write. Not at all. Nope.

Dustin: There's a difference there -- you can pretty much tell right away if a musical composition is "working" or not.

DJ: That's true. It's also easier to be ignored, because the reader has to, you know, "read" all those words, whereas with music, you can listen.

DUSTIN: Right, whereas writing is sneaky, and it's much easier to disguise a lack of ability than with composing or the like.

Adam: I offer you Phillip Glass as a rebuttal, Dustin.

DJ: Is that a Phillip Glass diss, sir?

Adam: Yes, but the diss was only one note long, sustained for 30 minutes while silence crept over the rest of the soundscape until my one tuba note blared forth and sunk his battleship.

Dustin: Phillips Glass has written some pretty interesting stuff. Minimalism isn't something that I get into, but I like it from an academic standpoint.

DJ: Ha ha... And... I played the tuba in marching band (and still claim no musical talent). In some way or another, all three of us will probably be writing all of our lives, regardless of profession or family or robots taking over... Am I right?

Dustin: I like to think that the robots would let me keep writing -- I've written a lot of pro-robot material over the years.

DJ: This is true.

Adam: I don't know. In a best case I'd like to say sure but that is kinda bullshit. I'd love to always write in some form or another, but I also know that might not happen. And yeah the robots wouldn't like me much.

Dustin: You're far too pirate-y with that beard. Robots don't like beards.

Adam: Also at once point I wanted to write for Magnus, Robot-Fighter.

DJ: Hmmm... the guy who writes now mostly out of a sense of obligation feels he'll write forever, while the guy who's very into storytelling and writes constantly might not do it forever. Interesting. And, at one point, Adam clearly wanted to wear a red go-go skirt and white boots.

Dustin: He said that? When did he say that? I've been too self-involved.

DJ: Like... Magnus.

Dustin: Oh.

Adam: Yah, a little Magnus humor there.

Dustin: So, what about you, Deej? Will you write forever, soaring on the wings of an eagle?

DJ: Yeah, I'll write forever. I’ll likely get frustrated and burnt out sometimes, but I’ll always come back. It's just something I do.

Adam: Though Dustin did have a point before, too. My beard is a talent. I grow a damn fine beard.

DJ: This is true, and it shouldn't be taken lightly. A beard as fiery red as the pits of Hades and twice as thick.

Dustin: He has pit hair growing from his face?

DJ: Yes. Bestowed upon him by demons. A pit of hair. And the ability to judo chop the heads off robots.

Adam: Demonface, the Robot-Hunter.

Dustin: (tm)