since my last post:
good: i've written more funnies.
bad: not as many as i'd like. i know, pretty minor bad. but this is because:
good: i've had some work to do. this keeps me from chomping at the bit.
bad: see above
good: i get a cyst, (very likely) 1 whirlygig, and bonus material removed thursday afternoon!
bad: that i need surgery at all. also that i have to take vacation time for it, since work's sick/vacation policy sucks.
good: that i have a job, crappy policies or not.
bad: that i had to turn down a totally ToTaLLy awesome job because of what i'd have to write about. their posting was anonymous, so i didn't know what i was getting into when i applied. i really thought hard about it but realized i just couldn't swallow a senior writer gig *there*, because i just don't get *them*. a one-off i could probably swing. full time hack? nope. and that sucks.
good: i may be jinxing it, but today looks to be light. here's to more writing!
bad: none because la la la a pox on the jinxing!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
a productive week+
since my last post, a little over a week ago, i have written 3 pieces. 3 solid, funny pieces. if that's not progress then i don't know what is. other than the obvious benefit of actually *writing*, here are the other benefits to teh funny:
1. it's easier to come up with good ideas.
2. it's shorter, and therefore faster, to write than anything else.
3. since it's easier and shorter, i've actually *finished* 3. as opposed to not finishing anything i've started over the last year.
4. distractions do not interrupt the flow of writing. in fact, sometimes they help (see #1). this is also huge, because when i'm writing something more =serious= it can take me a while to get into the right zone.
5. speaking of distractions, it doesn't seem to matter what music i listen to while i'm engaged in funny bidness. ROCK ON.
6. i get to laugh while i'm doing it. or just thinking about it.
my first piece, called 'Superheroes at the Wheel', gets an audience in our writer's group, next saturday. we'll see what they think but as for min, i heard her laughing all the way from upstairs. i think this is a good sign.
1. it's easier to come up with good ideas.
2. it's shorter, and therefore faster, to write than anything else.
3. since it's easier and shorter, i've actually *finished* 3. as opposed to not finishing anything i've started over the last year.
4. distractions do not interrupt the flow of writing. in fact, sometimes they help (see #1). this is also huge, because when i'm writing something more =serious= it can take me a while to get into the right zone.
5. speaking of distractions, it doesn't seem to matter what music i listen to while i'm engaged in funny bidness. ROCK ON.
6. i get to laugh while i'm doing it. or just thinking about it.
my first piece, called 'Superheroes at the Wheel', gets an audience in our writer's group, next saturday. we'll see what they think but as for min, i heard her laughing all the way from upstairs. i think this is a good sign.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
59 is fine
last year i read 59 books. if you want to know what i *thought* of those books in detail, then you should add me as a friend on goodreads. but suffice to say, some of them were excellent and others, not.
that averages out to a little more than 1 a week. that much reading sounds like a good excuse for my not writing, but the truth is i wrote GOBS in 2008 -- i just wrote erratically. and while i know i love books, seeing those stats kind of surprised me, made me wonder if i should slow down. really carve out more time for writing. but then i know the right answer for that...
on that note, yesterday i finished this. it is a very funny book, but it could've been so much better. the idea of doing that - writing something funnier - really appeals to me. or if i'm going to start now, a-peel-s to me. it also reminds me of something i read recently in a writer's block article (which counts as procrastinating and being productive at the same time). the writer said:
if your publisher said they could only publish 1 book, what book would you write?
naturally this assumes you are still crippled by writer's block and have not started, or at least finished, said book. also this assumes you have a publisher.
i must've been hormonal at the time, because i answered: either a book about my upbringing, or obsession. given my history, there's some overlap there, but suffice to say, those are things i've already given a lot of attention, writing-wise. but today, after being disappointed in (but still enjoying) FRC, and then some *usual* facebook silliness, i had a revelation. i am very, very silly. witty, even, on a fairly regular basis. OMG I SHUD B FUNI RITER.
now, i get how hard it is to be funny. the truth is, if you're trying to get people to laugh, it's much harder work than getting them to cry or feel sad with some sort of dramatic fiasco. this is just a guess because i'm (chicken) winging it, but it occurs to me that maybe this is tied to the whole 'it's easier to remember bad stuff than the good' mentality. somehow we can access those feelings much quicker - some of us can - and so moving from that semi-default, semi-serious place to laughter is just...trickier. it requires more leaps for our brain.
then again maybe this is just a great excuse for all the failed comedy writing out there.
at any rate, attacking humor instead of drama is also a great excuse for avoiding the stories i've started over the last 12 months, and starting something new instead. where i go from here is a big fat mystery, since humor is both nowhere and everywhere.
speaking of everywhere, here is just one of the random ideas that popped in, thanks to one of the many lists i'm on. there was a request for a Jogging Stroller. immediately i thought:
wanted: Jogging Stroller, Running Refrigerator, and Sauntering Microwave
there's so many places you could go with something like this. and that's the point. these are the kind of things that run through my brain ALL the time, and i think it's about time i started making better use of my humor-related ADD.
that averages out to a little more than 1 a week. that much reading sounds like a good excuse for my not writing, but the truth is i wrote GOBS in 2008 -- i just wrote erratically. and while i know i love books, seeing those stats kind of surprised me, made me wonder if i should slow down. really carve out more time for writing. but then i know the right answer for that...
on that note, yesterday i finished this. it is a very funny book, but it could've been so much better. the idea of doing that - writing something funnier - really appeals to me. or if i'm going to start now, a-peel-s to me. it also reminds me of something i read recently in a writer's block article (which counts as procrastinating and being productive at the same time). the writer said:
if your publisher said they could only publish 1 book, what book would you write?
naturally this assumes you are still crippled by writer's block and have not started, or at least finished, said book. also this assumes you have a publisher.
i must've been hormonal at the time, because i answered: either a book about my upbringing, or obsession. given my history, there's some overlap there, but suffice to say, those are things i've already given a lot of attention, writing-wise. but today, after being disappointed in (but still enjoying) FRC, and then some *usual* facebook silliness, i had a revelation. i am very, very silly. witty, even, on a fairly regular basis. OMG I SHUD B FUNI RITER.
now, i get how hard it is to be funny. the truth is, if you're trying to get people to laugh, it's much harder work than getting them to cry or feel sad with some sort of dramatic fiasco. this is just a guess because i'm (chicken) winging it, but it occurs to me that maybe this is tied to the whole 'it's easier to remember bad stuff than the good' mentality. somehow we can access those feelings much quicker - some of us can - and so moving from that semi-default, semi-serious place to laughter is just...trickier. it requires more leaps for our brain.
then again maybe this is just a great excuse for all the failed comedy writing out there.
at any rate, attacking humor instead of drama is also a great excuse for avoiding the stories i've started over the last 12 months, and starting something new instead. where i go from here is a big fat mystery, since humor is both nowhere and everywhere.
speaking of everywhere, here is just one of the random ideas that popped in, thanks to one of the many lists i'm on. there was a request for a Jogging Stroller. immediately i thought:
wanted: Jogging Stroller, Running Refrigerator, and Sauntering Microwave
there's so many places you could go with something like this. and that's the point. these are the kind of things that run through my brain ALL the time, and i think it's about time i started making better use of my humor-related ADD.
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