Being Alone and Writing a Book
Sunday was better than Saturday.
I’ve figured out a workaround for the video shoot – I’m just not going to shoot in HD. That bugs me, but it’s probably irrelevant anyway, since all of this footage is only going to be used on the web. So I spent the day filming pretty things and even got in the water once in awhile.
I miss my family.
I’m surprised at what a homebody I’ve become. But even being in a beautiful place like Kauai gets intensely lonely after a few days. Swimming in the ocean, even the very warm ocean around Kauai, is no big deal if you’re doing it all by yourself.
As soon as the sun goes down, I’m back at the condo, and I’m using the nighttime hours to rewrite my book.
I wrote a book years ago, and it sucked. It was written in the first person, and it was essentially my autobiography if I had superpowers. It reads like a bad stand-up comedy routine – all jokes, no plot, and tediously self-indulgent. When I returned to it not too long ago, I came up with an actual idea to flesh out the story, and I added a villain, who I’m finding more interesting than the main character. And it’s all written in the third person now. I figure if Twilight can get published and sell millions, then so can this thing. That’s my motivation as I press forward.
The biggest problem with the book initially, I think, was the lack of a compelling villain. I thought I was being avant-garde and parodying superhero conventions by showing that if someone in the real world were actually to acquire the ability to flow and move mountains, there wouldn’t have to be someone else with equal or greater powers to fight back.
I wanted to show the absurdity of the genre’s conventions and Make A Statement. That was my first, biggest mistake. It reminds me of my first season in Jackson Hole running a theatre, when I thought it would be a good idea to educate the audience to accept high quality, highbrow musicals rather than "pander" to them. So we produced The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which musical theatre junkies love and audiences generally avoid. When we finally wised up and produced things like Annie Get Your Gun, people showed up to fill the seats.
People watch the things they like, not the things you think they should. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
“Educating your audience” is code for “alienating your audience.” If you’re going to be elitist and condescending, then people aren’t going to bother listening to you. That’s a lesson, incidentally, that Hollywood refuses to learn.
So now I’m focused on writing an entertaining, readable story. No vampire lovin’, either.
I’m almost to 20,000 words. I hope to break 100,000 by the time I’m through.
I’ve figured out a workaround for the video shoot – I’m just not going to shoot in HD. That bugs me, but it’s probably irrelevant anyway, since all of this footage is only going to be used on the web. So I spent the day filming pretty things and even got in the water once in awhile.
I miss my family.
I’m surprised at what a homebody I’ve become. But even being in a beautiful place like Kauai gets intensely lonely after a few days. Swimming in the ocean, even the very warm ocean around Kauai, is no big deal if you’re doing it all by yourself.
As soon as the sun goes down, I’m back at the condo, and I’m using the nighttime hours to rewrite my book.
I wrote a book years ago, and it sucked. It was written in the first person, and it was essentially my autobiography if I had superpowers. It reads like a bad stand-up comedy routine – all jokes, no plot, and tediously self-indulgent. When I returned to it not too long ago, I came up with an actual idea to flesh out the story, and I added a villain, who I’m finding more interesting than the main character. And it’s all written in the third person now. I figure if Twilight can get published and sell millions, then so can this thing. That’s my motivation as I press forward.
The biggest problem with the book initially, I think, was the lack of a compelling villain. I thought I was being avant-garde and parodying superhero conventions by showing that if someone in the real world were actually to acquire the ability to flow and move mountains, there wouldn’t have to be someone else with equal or greater powers to fight back.
I wanted to show the absurdity of the genre’s conventions and Make A Statement. That was my first, biggest mistake. It reminds me of my first season in Jackson Hole running a theatre, when I thought it would be a good idea to educate the audience to accept high quality, highbrow musicals rather than "pander" to them. So we produced The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which musical theatre junkies love and audiences generally avoid. When we finally wised up and produced things like Annie Get Your Gun, people showed up to fill the seats.
People watch the things they like, not the things you think they should. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
“Educating your audience” is code for “alienating your audience.” If you’re going to be elitist and condescending, then people aren’t going to bother listening to you. That’s a lesson, incidentally, that Hollywood refuses to learn.
So now I’m focused on writing an entertaining, readable story. No vampire lovin’, either.
I’m almost to 20,000 words. I hope to break 100,000 by the time I’m through.
posted by Elder Samuel Bennett | 8:51 AM
4 Comments:
Don't know if you've got a title yet but here's a few I'd consider:
"Superhero vs. Supervillian: Guess Who Lost" (Hint: It was Aquaman.)
Stallion Cornell vs. Superhero Conventions: How Stallion Cornell Mismanaged Superheroes to Utter Oblivion"
"The Too Inquisitve Neighborhood Kids vs. The Time Monitors: Guess Which Title is Dumber"
"Moist: A Memoir"
"Memoir: A Moist"
I will pay you if a Kauai rooster makes a cameo in your book.
Languatron: The Sinister Speller.
I've been there. There is nothing worse than being alone in a hotel room and thinking about your family.
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