I wrote something

[Thyroid]

A little over a week ago, I was feeling a little agitated and so sat down and tapped at the keyboard, posting the result at my blog.

 

Years ago, I wrote without effort and loved it, but that ended in 2006 due to continual reminders that writing is not a talent and, if it is, it is certainly not a talent worth pursuing.

 

Anything I've done since - most of it garbage I filled Mixnmojo with - has been scraps. Therefore, this was hugely cathartic for me, as it felt like I'd fallen back into something important, however momentarily, to me.

 

I want to know if it's well-written, or if it is shit. Is that OK with you guys?

 

It's not short, and probably without point. It's certainly without direction. But I want someone to read it and give me their opinion on it, even if that opinion is a thumb pointing in a general direction.

 

It's here.

 

Thanks.

[juv3nal]

It is well written, but I'm pretty sure I disagree with (what I gather to be? excuse my shitty reading comprehension if not) the idea that suffering or being insufferable is necessary to create great writing.

[juv3nal]

Oh incidentally, are you familiar with the work of David Markson?

He peppers his writing with all sorts of obscure biographical trivia/apocryphra about various writers, artists etc.

A lot of his books are more than 50% comprised of such anecdotes even though they're classed as novels.

[clyde]

You successfully expressed your glamourous view of self-destructive creatives.

Your similes and metaphors don't provide me with additional understanding. I'm not sure if it's your selection or if it's a lack of implying the connection directly enough. For example:

" It creates a splash in the neighborhood; the local gossip will nibble on the sea-weed the waves bring for weeks."

Did you choose this metaphor as a way to describe the place? Or is there something about how sea-weed gets nibbled on by waves that is representative of the gossip?

Another example is the continuation of the ocean metaphor through out the Fitzgerald part. After finishing that portion, I wasn't sure of why the ocean is a particularly reflective subject with which to relate Fitzgerald's life. I'm glad you are writing again. I hope this experience reminds you of why it is worth pursuing.

There was a book I came across a while back. I can't remember the title, but it was full of anectdotal stories about the artists in Montparnasse in the early 1900's. I bet you would love it. That's how I found out that Picasso was an asshole.

[I_smell]

That metaphor is to relate an exciting piece of news to a bounty of nutrition that is relied upon to last the season.

[clyde]

Thanks.

[Roderick]

That's how I found out that Picasso was an asshole.

 

Oh, Clyde, you may think that Pablo Picasso was an asshole, but I know for a fact that Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole (not in New York).

 

[clyde]

That's the second time someone has linked me this song when I said Pablo Picasso was an asshole. I would start calling him a "dick", but now I want to see if it happens again.

Here is a relevant article for those interested.

[Roderick]

I am ashamed that I am not original.

[clyde]

Don't be. Solidarity.

If it is any concession, it was not the David Bowie version that the other person linked.

[clyde]

"consolation" not " concession".

[Thyroid]

It is well written, but I'm pretty sure I disagree with (what I gather to be? excuse my shitty reading comprehension if not) the idea that suffering or being insufferable is necessary to create great writing.

 

It started-out very tongue-in-cheek, as the Hemingway, Mahfouz, and Fitzgerald sections hopefully show, but as I grew more tired I think I started taking it seriously. That having been said, I pity, not glamorize, all these people. I think I need to spit and polish it at one point.

 

Oh incidentally, are you familiar with the work of David Markson?

He peppers his writing with all sorts of obscure biographical trivia/apocryphra about various writers, artists etc.

A lot of his books are more than 50% comprised of such anecdotes even though they're classed as novels.

I wasn't. Thanks for the recommendation; it sounds interesting.

 

You successfully expressed your glamourous view of self-destructive creatives.

Your similes and metaphors don't provide me with additional understanding. I'm not sure if it's your selection or if it's a lack of implying the connection directly enough. For example:

" It creates a splash in the neighborhood; the local gossip will nibble on the sea-weed the waves bring for weeks."

Did you choose this metaphor as a way to describe the place? Or is there something about how sea-weed gets nibbled on by waves that is representative of the gossip?

Another example is the continuation of the ocean metaphor through out the Fitzgerald part. After finishing that portion, I wasn't sure of why the ocean is a particularly reflective subject with which to relate Fitzgerald's life. I'm glad you are writing again. I hope this experience reminds you of why it is worth pursuing.

 

 

As I mentioned to juv3nal, it started-out heavy on the irony (as hipster-ish as that sounds), but I think I lost the plot around the time I arrived at Carson McCullers. But I seem to have not gotten that across.

 

The sea-weed thing was representative of gossip, at least how I view it: someone brings in the tide, little, unremarkable fish live off it until the next one.

 

As for the F. Scott Fitzgerald section, it's a play off the final paragraph in The Great Gatsby. A lot of aspects from their lives could be threaded together using an ocean metaphor, and the final lines of the book - how Gatsby doesn't realize that getting Daisy is something he's already failed at - mirrors Scott's own attempts at reconciling with Zelda. It's also why the final lines are straight from The Great Gatsby.

 

Thanks for your feedback. I do hope I learn to love to write again, but maybe they did too good a job at too formative a time. We'll see.

[clyde]

I guess I should have read the book. 

Just putting consideration into your writing (as you seem to be doing) pays off. I'm glad you are excited about experimentation and expression in the medium. I love creative writing.