Please ignore my old and curmudgeonly writing if it offends.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
I’ve just hit fifty. Half a century of life that would have been in more wilder times far too long to exist has left me pensive and reflective distantly from the world around me and where I have been.
I have over the last ten years felt an accelerating mood that all that is populist is not for me. Quelle Surprise I hear you shout. I have dwelled here enough on bad horror movies and niche comics and novels after all. So unsurprisingly the dreck sweet corn invested bullshit that maintains a foothold in television and films has sent me to YouTube and Podcasts and old paperbacks for some satisfaction.
I have of late been reading and listening to a lot of the work of Christopher Hitchens. A man full of reason and passion I have become slightly fixated on his thought processes, (often) wryly dealt delivery and clear thinking. I am also aware that like The Doors, Lynch, Dylan, Bukowski, Herzog and Amis he is a public figure that a man in his fifties must have investigated at some period leading up to that man writing a terribly aggressive and scatological weekly mailer.......
(Yes that was spelt correctly).
The above is not to negate what he says however and some/much of what he says has resonance. Although I would like to point out that whilst I do not agree with some of his diatribes the ‘Antitheist’ badge is tempting though isn’t it?
I recently heard him talk about writing as this is a favourite topic. He stated that he has no interest or skill in writing a fiction or a novel. This I am sure is modesty for I suspect that he would have written a crackingly subversive and biting political novel. We shall never know as he sadly passed away far too early a number of years ago. But he does simply encapsulate a couple of points that I think are worthy of comment.
‘If you have the ability to talk you have the ability to write.’
This is true. I wholeheartedly believe that the ability to write something is not a god given ability. It can be learnt and is just another muscle that needs to be worked to find some ability beyond the crude.
Last night I sat in a pub with a pal. This man claims that writing is beyond him and that he prefers just to draw. But doesn’t a picture tell a story? Put down what you see and feel in that picture? I would read that. This man also tells a mean and funny story. Isn’t that writing? Groucho Marx is one of my favourite ‘writers’ yet he famously dictated onto a tape machine. His writing (as that is what it is) flows brilliantly and is eloquent and funny and sharp. Just give it a go. What have you got to lose?
I have many friends who would never consider typing a story but will sit in a car, pub, coffee shop, strip club (etc) and entrance us with hilarious tales of their lives. Side achingly hilarity that will be lost to all but the fading memories of those present.
It’s a shame.
He also repeated that theory that a story does not need to be overly complicated...
‘Man Bites Dog. That is enough’.
Simple and straightforward but does it get you thinking? I think it most certainly does.
I’m afraid that I’m not one of those readers in either novels or comics that likes an overly complicated plot. I prefer to hear from the inside of the players heads in some way or another. A story is the umbrella which the real gristle is exposed from underneath. Ferocious imagery is my crack. Well thought out dialogue is my caffeine. Swirling emotions are my scotch.
So, as you sit to write, concentrate on the thoughts and motivations and speech and real moments of truth. The feelings in your gut need voice and a voice that is expressed with skill and style and rhythm and shape.
A story is not and never should be purely a good idea that nobody has ever thought about. There are a lot of comics, movie, TV and novel writers who would do well to remember that.
Please give it a go? I try and write every day. As I sit in the dark early and rainy hours drinking coffee I find, for a moment at least, some peace. It doesn’t come easily these days. Shut out the world and write. Find what inspires you and give it your best go.
Many thanks for reading.
I have over the last ten years felt an accelerating mood that all that is populist is not for me. Quelle Surprise I hear you shout. I have dwelled here enough on bad horror movies and niche comics and novels after all. So unsurprisingly the dreck sweet corn invested bullshit that maintains a foothold in television and films has sent me to YouTube and Podcasts and old paperbacks for some satisfaction.
I have of late been reading and listening to a lot of the work of Christopher Hitchens. A man full of reason and passion I have become slightly fixated on his thought processes, (often) wryly dealt delivery and clear thinking. I am also aware that like The Doors, Lynch, Dylan, Bukowski, Herzog and Amis he is a public figure that a man in his fifties must have investigated at some period leading up to that man writing a terribly aggressive and scatological weekly mailer.......
(Yes that was spelt correctly).
The above is not to negate what he says however and some/much of what he says has resonance. Although I would like to point out that whilst I do not agree with some of his diatribes the ‘Antitheist’ badge is tempting though isn’t it?
I recently heard him talk about writing as this is a favourite topic. He stated that he has no interest or skill in writing a fiction or a novel. This I am sure is modesty for I suspect that he would have written a crackingly subversive and biting political novel. We shall never know as he sadly passed away far too early a number of years ago. But he does simply encapsulate a couple of points that I think are worthy of comment.
‘If you have the ability to talk you have the ability to write.’
This is true. I wholeheartedly believe that the ability to write something is not a god given ability. It can be learnt and is just another muscle that needs to be worked to find some ability beyond the crude.
Last night I sat in a pub with a pal. This man claims that writing is beyond him and that he prefers just to draw. But doesn’t a picture tell a story? Put down what you see and feel in that picture? I would read that. This man also tells a mean and funny story. Isn’t that writing? Groucho Marx is one of my favourite ‘writers’ yet he famously dictated onto a tape machine. His writing (as that is what it is) flows brilliantly and is eloquent and funny and sharp. Just give it a go. What have you got to lose?
I have many friends who would never consider typing a story but will sit in a car, pub, coffee shop, strip club (etc) and entrance us with hilarious tales of their lives. Side achingly hilarity that will be lost to all but the fading memories of those present.
It’s a shame.
He also repeated that theory that a story does not need to be overly complicated...
‘Man Bites Dog. That is enough’.
Simple and straightforward but does it get you thinking? I think it most certainly does.
I’m afraid that I’m not one of those readers in either novels or comics that likes an overly complicated plot. I prefer to hear from the inside of the players heads in some way or another. A story is the umbrella which the real gristle is exposed from underneath. Ferocious imagery is my crack. Well thought out dialogue is my caffeine. Swirling emotions are my scotch.
So, as you sit to write, concentrate on the thoughts and motivations and speech and real moments of truth. The feelings in your gut need voice and a voice that is expressed with skill and style and rhythm and shape.
A story is not and never should be purely a good idea that nobody has ever thought about. There are a lot of comics, movie, TV and novel writers who would do well to remember that.
Please give it a go? I try and write every day. As I sit in the dark early and rainy hours drinking coffee I find, for a moment at least, some peace. It doesn’t come easily these days. Shut out the world and write. Find what inspires you and give it your best go.
Many thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment