December 10th, 2008
Dan over at Dan Wrote This wrote something on Monday that’s been turning over in my head for the last couple days, and since I’ve already left a wordy comment, I figured I should just make my own entry. He’s a film guy, so it’s not like I’m completely ripping him off by bringing his theme to the written word.
When I think of phrases like, “Writing with a purpose” or “Writing with a message”, I always think of this guy from my Intro to Creative Writing class. The first section was poetry; most of us were aiming for humorous or tear-jerking, but this one guy opted for political. The gist of the poem was, “I used to dream of being a trash collector, but then those Mexicans came up here and took those jobs, so now I have to go to college and be a lawyer.” It was cute, but his hand was heavy enough to require a crane. When he finished reading and we finished chuckling softly, he said, “Do you get what I’m trying to say?” (more…)
January 21st, 2008
I’ve been kicking this post around for a while, and I’m never really sure what it is I want to say with it. Bear with me while I ramble. (more…)
January 18th, 2008
Over a month ago I said that I would actually post something I had written. I’ll try and make good on that over lunch today, provided I don’t freak out and think it’s utterly worthless like the stereotypical writer has a tendency to do. I’m actually going to get my whining and insecurity out of the way now: Even after I make corrections to the part I’m going to post, I won’t consider it “as good as it could be” and will likely go through another five revisions before I decide to leave it alone… blah blah blah etc whine complain.
In this instance, most of my insecurity is due to the fact that I use this blog to talk about the act of writing — what I’ve learned about it and would like to share. My horrible, dark secret is that I don’t follow all of my advice (at that moment, all of the writers in the room rolled their eyes) and I certainly don’t write good first drafts (and, grinning, shook their heads). In my head, I know writers get this, but I still harbor the irrational fear that when I serve up the pudding, I’ll be mocked for not having the cup of proof that is supposed to be in there (or, in some cases, substituting said proof with two cups of BS).
Anyway, coming up at some point today will be a snippet from my work in progress, which still doesn’t have a title. It might be modified slightly to make sense as a short story, or I might just leave things as they are and see what happens. Who knows.
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