Writing

[migrated from myspace blog]

I think I've figured out why I write so much on here. It's not that people are actually reading it (I know, hard to believe, but there have been something like 700 hits on my blog since I started). Somewhere along the line, maybe around the end of college or the next few years following, I began to feel a desire to write. I was already through with all my English, Writing, and Literature classes I would ever take, at that point, but I believe the desire came from somewhere else. First of all, starting with one summer during college, I started reading for enjoyment again. From that point I've pretty much been collecting books and wearing out my library card. I'm not saying I've read a tremendous amount of books compared to a lot of people, but my reading list is more than I can keep up with (I'm not even that fast of a reader.) Secondly I've grown, through books, movies, and television, to have a great respect for the art of presenting a story that can be maintained for as much as 800 pages, or 2-3 hours on screen. It's this second factor with which I think I've been obssessed.

I've always had a great respect for art in general (maybe not so much with the opera.) For someone like me who doesn't have any great artistic skill, it's easy to be in awe of someone who can paint a masterpiece, compose a great song, or write an epic novel (or seven) telling one story with dozens of characters, settings, and subplots without having it fall apart at the seams. Also there's just something about that image of a person alone in front of a typewriter (or laptop, now) actually creating something out of nothing. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Okay, so maybe Kubrick and Nicholson don't make the most compelling argument for being a writer.

At least with music I can comprehend what it takes to develop the skill to be a decent musician, although songwriting is a whole different level. I took a photography class several years ago because I saw that as an art form I could actually take part in. And I did for awhile. But something like painting, or sculpting, I can't even begin to understand. So why do I have some illusion I could write a great story. Maybe even one someone might want to read? I think it has to do with the fact that writing, in and of itself is that that difficult. I could sit here all day long and write pages and pages of meaningless unconnected thoughts that wouldn't be worth the bandwidth they're wasting (and maybe that's all I'm doing now.) It's easy to tell myself that if I only had a really good story idea, or a really well developed character to write about, that I could write it. That's probably the equivalent of saying that because I can strum a few chords I should be able to write Stairway to Heaven.

(Don't expect a better ending. I'm not a writer. But I wonder if I could play one on TV?)