Oh, Jerri Blank*. You came into my life when there was a dearth of comedy, and were so comedically-progressive (coining it right now: prog-com) that I wasn’t even sure I liked you at first. Your racism gave me the don’t-laugh feeling. Your outfits were a little toooo ugly. But once the genius of it started to sink in, I could never go back. Jerri Blank was pivotal to the development of my own sense of humour! In fact, when my then-roommate and I went through an intense phase of watching Strangers with Candy, I was imitating her so much that some of her mannerisms have permanently slipped into rotation with me. Which (if you watch the show you know) is kind of a bad thing, actually.
Anyway, I was thinking of her today because of this trademark phrase of hers, “I got something to say!” I’m at a crucial point in my career in terms of deciding exactly what it is I want do. I’m writing a lot, which I always thought was the singular goal, but something is missing. I always thought I wanted to write for writing’s sake, but I realize now that it’s the communication aspect of writing that appeals to me. I want to write for conversation’s sake. As it turns out, I got something to say.
Gen Y and new media are all about this “conversation”, this exchange of ideas. I joined Brazen Careerist – a kind of LinkedIn vehicle, but with more of a social media-type interface to encourage discussion and communication. And I’m blogging my little heart out.
With NaNoWriMo right around the corner, of course, I’m about to go into a month-long period of writing only for the NaNoWriMo word counters. The prospect isn’t very motivating, but luckily I’ve joined a writing group to help boost me through. Makes me wonder, though, how novelists do it. Are you a writer? I would love to hear your thoughts on writing for yourself vs. writing for others.
*That link could be to amysedaris.com (my heart skipped in my chest when I found this site), but I can tell Andrea Harner’s fandom is in line with me, and that deserves linkage.
1 Comment
October 30, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I think this is a really interesting point about writing being a conversation. I have been writing a novel for the past year and working with a writing group like you. That group has been a great way for me to have this conversation you are talking about. Having feedback has really helped to keep me going through this process. Stick with it and stick with your writer’s group. You can do it!