Jul 11 2007

Today, I suck. Tomorrow, I am awesome!

"On bad days I write the whole script in four or five hours, realize that it’s useless, tear it up and start again. I repeat this process four or five times until I’m reduced to a blubbering wreck that just slumps in the armchair and whimpers about how it has no talent whatsoever and will never write again. Next day, I’ll get up, get the while thing right the first time and spend the rest of the day walking round reading my favourite bits to my wife, children, or visiting tradesmen." -Alan Moore

Alan Moore is astonishingly hairy. Seriously, look at him. I was going to just link to the wiki article for the curious and then I saw the picture and wondered if the man has been locked in a dungeon. Anyway. . . .

I love that quote because that was totally me in the last week. Sadly, I cannot tell you what I was working on because I was one of a team of ghostwriters for it so my name will appear nowhere on it anyway. (If you hang out with me in person, those that know they always have that invitation, I will tell you so let that be your incentive.) That said, it was a total roller coaster, particularly because this was comedy and I am slightly manic. All week it was like "I am horrible, I am not funny, this is all utter garbage!" and then a mere hour later I would reread it and be saying, "I am like a comedy God, bow down to me." Had there been visiting tradesmen, I would have totally read it to them!

I don’t know if it is biorhythms or what but I am total hot and cold about what I write. I am never middle of the road. I re-read my play which has been so successful and sometimes I read it and I am embarrassed that other people have read it. I know that is stupid of me, particularly since my ego gets a steady flow of "fan mail" (if you can call it that) from teachers and students who love the play but I read it and I cringe.

Then, on other days, I read it and laugh out loud and it seems so good to me I cannot believe I wrote it.

I am willing to accept the theory that I have multiple personalities.

Writing is very weird. Firstly, you can totally write when you are not inspired. But, heck, it is so much easier if you are inspired! Secondly, I find writing fiction to be much harder then non-fiction. With non-fiction, I just sit down and pretend it’s homework and I whine about it and futz about but I finally get it done. With fiction, despite the fact that it would probably come out just as good if I just pretended that it was also hw, I am always all "the moon has to be right."

F’n moon.

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