(no subject)
I don't update as often as I feel that I should. I have a horrible memory for events, and Livejournal has actually become a quick-reference guide for my life. In any case, things are going pretty well. I bought my first guitar with the help of Phil and some of Kevin. I wanted to be so hard-rock, that I'd play it until my fingers bled, and the very stars screamed from their lofty nests for me to shut the hell up. Instead, I played them until they went raw, and I acquiesced to being a pussy.
I wrote some more tonight, too long to post. I didn't realize until recently that most of my stories are based on something that Clive Barker once said. I don't remember it verbatim, but the idea was that there are essentially only three characters to any story, no matter how epic. Between two lovers, a child. Between two friends, an enemy. Between two gods, a single man. All other characters, no matter how proliferous are just agents of plot progression. It always reverts to the original three. Also, the story only ends after the numbers are dwindled from three to two, to one, and finally to none. Other authors argue that they end their stories with great feasts or celebration, but they are mearly cheating the audience of the true ending. The story doesn't have closure until the death of the main character, or until they step out of the focus of the story and into an understanding oblivion.
The validity of this theory is irrelevant. If you're a fan of literary theory, though, you can appreciate this approach. It's not as hackneyed as writing-by-formula, but it helps give any potential story a sense of structure. It also gives all of mine a sense of tragedy. Apparently, according to good ol' Clive, all of the truly great stories are tragedies. I tried to fault him on this, but I agree with him. Besides, didn't someone once say that all great art has a sense of tragedy?
I really want to read The Last Samurai again. I'm perpetually reminded of how much it moves me.
Every once in a while, I start to get maudlin and wonder why I bother drawing, sculpting, writing, or training. I never planned on carrying myself through life on my own creativity. It is a romantic thought, though.
"An artist cannot fail. It is a success to merely be one."
~Charles Horton Cooley
Sigur Rós is amazing, Phil. Thank you.
I wrote some more tonight, too long to post. I didn't realize until recently that most of my stories are based on something that Clive Barker once said. I don't remember it verbatim, but the idea was that there are essentially only three characters to any story, no matter how epic. Between two lovers, a child. Between two friends, an enemy. Between two gods, a single man. All other characters, no matter how proliferous are just agents of plot progression. It always reverts to the original three. Also, the story only ends after the numbers are dwindled from three to two, to one, and finally to none. Other authors argue that they end their stories with great feasts or celebration, but they are mearly cheating the audience of the true ending. The story doesn't have closure until the death of the main character, or until they step out of the focus of the story and into an understanding oblivion.
The validity of this theory is irrelevant. If you're a fan of literary theory, though, you can appreciate this approach. It's not as hackneyed as writing-by-formula, but it helps give any potential story a sense of structure. It also gives all of mine a sense of tragedy. Apparently, according to good ol' Clive, all of the truly great stories are tragedies. I tried to fault him on this, but I agree with him. Besides, didn't someone once say that all great art has a sense of tragedy?
I really want to read The Last Samurai again. I'm perpetually reminded of how much it moves me.
Every once in a while, I start to get maudlin and wonder why I bother drawing, sculpting, writing, or training. I never planned on carrying myself through life on my own creativity. It is a romantic thought, though.
"An artist cannot fail. It is a success to merely be one."
~Charles Horton Cooley
Sigur Rós is amazing, Phil. Thank you.