On Posts
I am not a fan of the new John Pine. That is not a cast for compliments. I just don’t like it. I don’t like the voice. I don’t like the setting. I don’t like the product.
It started with an idea I got excited about and ran off with and probably ruined with enthusiasm. I question now whether I should have shown it to anybody since I know I would have ended up rewriting it, but without the spectre of someone’s judgment hanging over the eventual product. To explain that convoluted statement: I showed the original over enthusiastic section to someone who has the uncanny ability to be honest and they really doused what I had going, which was fine. That was needed. The problem was that it really destroyed my ability to write without audience in mind. That being said, I finished it anyway. In this case, I think its best just to set the idea and not get stuck in the eternal ongoing editing trap.
Me and the blogger formerly known as Chimmy discussed this a little a few days ago. I am becoming more and more convinced that blogging is detrimental to your writing skills. In blogging you eventually give into the compulsion to talk about your day and what you had for lunch or some bat/bull shit philosophy you came up with because of an episode of The Gilmore Girls and too much to drink. And the comments. Being honest, the fact that you have a little number representing how many comments you manage to get makes one little part of my brain want that number big and gaudy.
The problem with that is (postulation) that posts that garner the most comments across the blogging community are typically the biggest loads of horeshit imaginable to the writer. Or simply someone sharing bullshit philosophy that is immediately easy to agree with. Or some pointless drivel about what movie/book/car/magazine/etc. you liked this week.
Also, there is the fact that I am so much more productive when I am out of town, specifically, visiting my girlfriend.
I am really not a fan of what I have been able to write since I came home from Denver. Visiting Jen, even though she insists otherwise, must bring me some sort of tranquility I have a difficult time finding here in a silent and organized house.
Conclusion: I suck, and so does this.
Update: Sending The Highwayman out today.
December 29, 2007 at 12:53 am
I’ve been reading the Pine stuff and I liked where it was going. Although, I would like to see more first-person dialog in the story.
But, you’re right in suggesting that blogging about every-day bullshit isn’t going to result in any productive form of writing. But, blogging is quick and to the point…and comments make for a good ego-stroke. However, I’ve seen people who produce pure crap on their blogs and they still receive 20-30 comments. So, maybe that sort of praise is something you don’t really need (or want).
December 29, 2007 at 7:49 am
You see, this what happens when a misanthrope decides to blog.
Some of my “best” posts came from the Gilmore girls and alcohol. At the same time, I’ve never once considered what I do on my blog writing. It is blogging, pure and simple (emphasis on the simple).
You on the other hand have the ability to do both – as much as it pains me to say anything nice to you….dick. Your “Jimmy Page and the Ocean” was the first post that convinced me that you can write. As long as you can articulate for yourself the difference between when you are blogging and when you are writing you will be o.k.
December 29, 2007 at 11:50 pm
D. Colt: I plan on it, but probably not as much as some would like. I read Lord of the Barnyard again, and it really piqued my interest what you can do without dialog. Of course, I’m no Tristan Egolf. On the subject of comments: you’re right, it’s an ego trip that reinforces bad habits.
GSR: Maybe my folly was mistaking blogging for writing. I plan on differentiating the two in the future. It’s easier to do here in WordPress land.