Anyone who has had to crank out a five page report on Catcher in the Rye knows that. And that's writing when you're almost trying to be boring and predictable. Entertaining fiction is a whole 'nuther ball of wax. I've tried just about every artistic endeavor. Yeah, I'm one of those types. I've played music, painted, acted, and done unintentional drunken performance pieces in bars all over the country, but writing is the toughest. I think movies are the greatest art form, because they combine all other artistic disciplines, but the writing is the toughest component. Notice that I'm not one of those pretentious fucks who insists on calling them films. Film is what you shoot the movie on. Film is what the hygienist scrapes off of your teeth at the dentist office. Movie is an endearing word which encompasses the entire experience.
Great art is a soul exposed. (And that is a registered trademark phrase, so if you use it, make sure you send me a royalty check or I'll have my phalanx of lawyers descend on your ass). What better way to expose your soul than alone in a room with a keyboard? Writing has the power to change lives, change attitudes, and even change history. We've all read those books that changed our lives, or at least the way we look at things. On the Road, Last Exit to Brooklyn, and Lolita are just a few of the books that have done that for me. They profoundly altered the way I thought about emotion, society, the psyche, and the way words are used.
But who knew that the process of writing could be enjoyable? I tend to picture tortured souls locked in a room writing these masterpieces with a fountain pen using their own blood as ink. That may be the case sometimes, and writing is a lonely pastime by nature, but I'm discovering that slapping words together is fun in and of itself. I'm going through a phase of self discovery and verbal experimentation that is very exciting and rewarding, and hopefully becoming a slightly better writer along the way.
Maybe I'm just going through a honeymoon period, but for now, writing can be fun.
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