12-08-03

Today is the day to write a myth. I'm eager. It's the first fun thing that I've written for school this term.

I wrote a story last night about a friend. She recently had surgery and now has a large scar. I wanted to give her a story to tell about her scar, so I went bazoodies. The story is about a 1977 Buick Century that emits a low, sub-sonic hum. My friend is sucked through to another world, where she's greeted by a small man who twists his cap in his hands and runs away. There's silliness; an oom-pah band that plays terribly, a very grand (albeit tiny) lady who reads from a magical scroll, and a little more.

It was silly, imaginative, and a load of fun. It's been so long since I've let 'er rip, that the joy of creation was getting clouded by practicality. All work and no play makes a very dull writer.

When it comes to writing, everyone wants you to write like them. I'm weary of the so-called "American Realism." I think elements of reality ground the fantastic, but to spend six chapters describing how the protagonist finally earns his or her parent's love is (to me) authorial masturbation.

I believe that there's a place for that style of writing. When done well it's a joy to read. The ability to accurately describe the world as it is is a good skill to cultivate. For those who are drawn to write in that style, great. What bothers me is the inability to cope with any other sort of writing. If a writer's style doesn't neatly dovetail into the the current definition of Literary style, having every element exactly a described by some Authority, it's Not Writing. Yeah, tell that to Burroughs, Austen, Thompson, Blake, Rimbaud, et al.

Everybody likes to be Right, and to have the weight of Opinion behind them (sorry, I'm writing like a denizen of the 18th century -- I'm a leetle bit excited) I'm not immune. However, not everyone fits into the current fashion and that's what it is: fashion.

Of course, there's that balancing act that artists must do -- art versus commerce. It isn't wrong to make a living doing what you love, but how far do you compromise? I think that's a question that every artist has to answer in their own way and in their own time.

Oof.

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