The moving finger writes, and having writ, I say 'Is that it?'
I'm trying to find ways of talking about my creative writing without sounding like a tosser.
This has led me to examine why I find it so embarrassing, and why I sometimes roll my eyes internally when people talk about their creative projects (only sometimes! I am usually attentive and charmed).
I was talking to Mr Russet and I suggested that people often seem to use 'I'm going to write a book/create some art' as a way of saying 'This thing I have encountered interests me' e.g. 'I've found some propaganda pamphlets about the Mormon exodus and ...'
choice a) '..they're really amazing for these reasons' - great!
choice b) '...I'm going to write a novel about them!' - which can make me cringe, against my
more sympathetic intentions. Perhaps because it's saying 'I've found these cool things, and I'm going to do something with them which is even more cool.' I'd be happy if people just enthused about things without feeling they have to contribute anything more - good enthusiasm is better than half-arsed art. Perhaps because the confidence to announce a project before it's begun exhibits an un-British amount of self-confidence. I do over-value modesty. Perhaps because so few of these things see the light of day.
Anyway, Russet responded that he never finished any of the projects he spent hours talking to me about. However, I never roll my eyes at him. I realised PART II:
I find rambling creative plans which may or may not come to fruition more interesting when they belong to friends.
Novels often get compared to babies, by writers in ways that make me self-conscious and cringy ('Really? Does your sonnet sequence wake you up five times every night? Has your teenage palimpsest been selling meth from the basement?'). However, I've worked out that I also find babies much more interesting when they belong to friends. So, novels are a bit like babies, for me.
I do like hearing about creative projects generally, even ones doomed never to reach fruition, so don't let this post prevent you. This is all just preamble to say I'm going to spend the long Easter weekend finishing off My Novel. It doesn't have a plot, but I think that will be easy enough to fix. Some things fall in love, other things blow up, how hard can it be?
This has led me to examine why I find it so embarrassing, and why I sometimes roll my eyes internally when people talk about their creative projects (only sometimes! I am usually attentive and charmed).
I was talking to Mr Russet and I suggested that people often seem to use 'I'm going to write a book/create some art' as a way of saying 'This thing I have encountered interests me' e.g. 'I've found some propaganda pamphlets about the Mormon exodus and ...'
choice a) '..they're really amazing for these reasons' - great!
choice b) '...I'm going to write a novel about them!' - which can make me cringe, against my
more sympathetic intentions. Perhaps because it's saying 'I've found these cool things, and I'm going to do something with them which is even more cool.' I'd be happy if people just enthused about things without feeling they have to contribute anything more - good enthusiasm is better than half-arsed art. Perhaps because the confidence to announce a project before it's begun exhibits an un-British amount of self-confidence. I do over-value modesty. Perhaps because so few of these things see the light of day.
Anyway, Russet responded that he never finished any of the projects he spent hours talking to me about. However, I never roll my eyes at him. I realised PART II:
I find rambling creative plans which may or may not come to fruition more interesting when they belong to friends.
Novels often get compared to babies, by writers in ways that make me self-conscious and cringy ('Really? Does your sonnet sequence wake you up five times every night? Has your teenage palimpsest been selling meth from the basement?'). However, I've worked out that I also find babies much more interesting when they belong to friends. So, novels are a bit like babies, for me.
I do like hearing about creative projects generally, even ones doomed never to reach fruition, so don't let this post prevent you. This is all just preamble to say I'm going to spend the long Easter weekend finishing off My Novel. It doesn't have a plot, but I think that will be easy enough to fix. Some things fall in love, other things blow up, how hard can it be?