like, totally OMG.
So this is how it happens, again:
I spend a single (masochistic) sitting typing out a workshop-able story, expecting it to be more or less throw-away material. The difference, in this case, is it can't be throw-away material -- it's what I've been working on, very slowly and with minimal progress, for over a year. I've spent so much time thinking about it that I've become completely sick of writing something I haven't even started writing. So, one thing leads to another, and I decide to ignore the 20ish hours of taped conversations, the pages of notes, and just let my head do some talking to help make everything interesting again. What I wasn't expecting was for the doors to blow completely and thoroughly off the hinges of the project, and for people to write and say the genuinely nice comments they did, along with substantial criticism that actually makes a whole lot of sense. If I were reacting the normal way, I'd walk around giddy for a week, like I'd just been on a great date, then not write again for months with the fear of not being able to better myself. But something about this isn't normal at all -- I open my notebook and bits of story fall out. Rich little bits I had completely forgotten about, and I'm excited, really excited to give this the attention it needs. And then I make a long series of apologies to family members for portraying them, or their likenesses, in lights that may not be altogether pleasant, or even remotely correct. (But it's for artistic vision, or something! I have to say.)
Yeah, real exciting. These headlines, too:
"THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL RETURNS!"
"INTERNSHIP ON THE HORIZON?"
"NEW ROOM NO LONGER LOOKS LIKE OPIUM DEN, SAYS FRIEND"
"INDIAN WEATHER FORECAST: MORE SNOW!"
"DU'S SOKA GAKKAI CHAPTER GIVES INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM IN JAZZMAN'S CAFE, WEDNESDAY, 7PM. BRYAN IS INTERESTED, first, IN HOW THIS STUDENT ORGANIZATION EXISTS, and second, IF AN ENGLISH-SPOKEN CONVERSATION ON THE TOPIC HAS ANY CHANCE OF ANSWERING ALL THE QUESTIONS HE'S STOCKPILED IN JAPANESE OVER THE PAST FOUR MONTHS"
And in sports, kind of,
"COMER'S WINGING TAKES JAPANESE TEST TO VICTORY!"
And in the margins it mentions something about how the page during which I poured myself a glass of rum is blatantly obvious and difficult to explain away.
Does one call a laugh 'hearty' or 'hardy'? I guess I'm laughing either heartily or hardily, depending..
I spend a single (masochistic) sitting typing out a workshop-able story, expecting it to be more or less throw-away material. The difference, in this case, is it can't be throw-away material -- it's what I've been working on, very slowly and with minimal progress, for over a year. I've spent so much time thinking about it that I've become completely sick of writing something I haven't even started writing. So, one thing leads to another, and I decide to ignore the 20ish hours of taped conversations, the pages of notes, and just let my head do some talking to help make everything interesting again. What I wasn't expecting was for the doors to blow completely and thoroughly off the hinges of the project, and for people to write and say the genuinely nice comments they did, along with substantial criticism that actually makes a whole lot of sense. If I were reacting the normal way, I'd walk around giddy for a week, like I'd just been on a great date, then not write again for months with the fear of not being able to better myself. But something about this isn't normal at all -- I open my notebook and bits of story fall out. Rich little bits I had completely forgotten about, and I'm excited, really excited to give this the attention it needs. And then I make a long series of apologies to family members for portraying them, or their likenesses, in lights that may not be altogether pleasant, or even remotely correct. (But it's for artistic vision, or something! I have to say.)
Yeah, real exciting. These headlines, too:
"THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL RETURNS!"
"INTERNSHIP ON THE HORIZON?"
"NEW ROOM NO LONGER LOOKS LIKE OPIUM DEN, SAYS FRIEND"
"INDIAN WEATHER FORECAST: MORE SNOW!"
"DU'S SOKA GAKKAI CHAPTER GIVES INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM IN JAZZMAN'S CAFE, WEDNESDAY, 7PM. BRYAN IS INTERESTED, first, IN HOW THIS STUDENT ORGANIZATION EXISTS, and second, IF AN ENGLISH-SPOKEN CONVERSATION ON THE TOPIC HAS ANY CHANCE OF ANSWERING ALL THE QUESTIONS HE'S STOCKPILED IN JAPANESE OVER THE PAST FOUR MONTHS"
And in sports, kind of,
"COMER'S WINGING TAKES JAPANESE TEST TO VICTORY!"
And in the margins it mentions something about how the page during which I poured myself a glass of rum is blatantly obvious and difficult to explain away.
Does one call a laugh 'hearty' or 'hardy'? I guess I'm laughing either heartily or hardily, depending..