Some Assembly Required

I was listening to this episode of This American Life in which people were dealing with their “little devils” that are inside of them. The best part about blogging is that it keeps me in that writer’s frame of mind. It keeps me thinking about ideas. Coming up with ideas has never been a problem for me. However, developing those ideas into something that is concise is where the real “hell” exists. Believe it or not. Something happens between my mind and my fingers that are typing these ideas out. What I think in my head and what I see on the screen seem to be two completely different things. Some days, I do not feel like a writer but more like a blacksmith. It seems to take a lot of pounding to get my idea into the way I think it should be. And with little if any feedback I am not sure if I always make it. One of my favorite authors is Nathaniel Hawthorne. He wrote this short story entitled The Devil in the Manuscript. In the story, there is a writer who does not think or feel that his work is having any effect at all on the world. In a fit of despair he throws his papers into the fireplace. The burning cinders floating through the air set the neighborhood on fire. Talk about making people notice. Don’t worry I will not go to that extreme. But there are days when I am real close. Don’t ask, “How close?” Unless of course you want a good excuse to lose sleep tonight.

I have no trouble with writing ideas. I have trouble with organizing these ideas. And anyone who has seen my apartment can testify that I have “organizational difficulties”. How have I been trying to deal with this? I try to keep inspiring readings nearby. So I have been going back to Stephen King’s memoir, On Writing. He states that if you do not have the time to read then you do not have the tools needed to write. So I find myself doing a lot of reading. I have been especially reading the books of Robert Parker’s Spenser detective novels. This is the character that was the basis for the Spenser For Hire TV series. I find the books to be a classic detective writing. It is different from today’s TV series of detectives. Most of the crime shows on TV now seem to be based on super teams, scientific processes, and computer graphic re-enactments. The CSI approach. Not that it is a bad thing necessarily. But the approach is too repetitive on many TV shows. The Fox show Bones seems to find a balance between character and procedures in the crime fighting drama. However, back to Spenser novels. It features something missing in many detective shows that lone private investigator that has a personal code of honor. He goes after the criminals using more of the “gut instinct” method. The books are easy reading page turners. Robert Parker language in his writing conveys a lot without being very wordy. I have also been watching episodes of the show Homicide: Life on the Streets this was the show based on the book (an excellent one too) by David Simon. This series was based more on character rather than car chases and gunplay. I came across this clip. It features from the show Detectives Pembleton and Bayliss in a midst of one their many philosophical arguments. It is good dialogue.

The whole point of this is I am trying to write better. I read and watch the things that influence me. It may look like “wasting time”. But for a writer it is more like going “back to school”. I know my writings on this blog and the website postings tend to be more based on personal observations. The screenplays are in the “on the drawing” board per say. I promise I am working on them. I am making a lot of notes. The “ideas” are there. They just happen to be “under construction”. AKA rewrites and even more editing.

Here is a song titled “Armor and Sword” by the band Rush that kind of sums things up in a way.