this post may well score a "Bette Midler" on the scale of self-indulgence
I have a number of pet peeves about writing, one of which is Writing About Writing. As you can tell, I’ve already violated that particular personal standard. But it’s all just economies of scale now, so I might as well finish the thought.
Anyway, I can understand why each individual writer finds it interesting to Write About Writing – people are naturally self-interested, although the degree varies across cultures. But when you look at the entire body of, say, popular movies, you end up with the interests of writers and filmmakers strongly represented, and the interests of other occupations, like labourers, poorly represented (cf. Ken Loach films). Writing About Writing reminds me of a metaphor that I was reminded of by the self-indulgence of Ocean’s Twelve. An old friend of mine once raised the idea of masturbating while watching a video tape of himself masturbating in front of a mirror watching himself masturbate. I am the only person I know who thinks this is funny, but I have to admit I think it’s hilarious (he was not being serious, in case you’re worried). And it’s not a bad metaphor for the sense I get when watching a film about filmmaking, or a story with a writer as the lead character.
Having said all of that, I have to say this writing gig has turned out to be quite different than I expected. For a long time, I have wanted to write on a regular basis. But, in retrospect, I also understand the comfort there was in believing I could write without actually doing it – I was able to maintain the positive self-conception without risking falsifying that belief. In the end, I’m not as good a writer as I had hoped, or at least not as much of a natural as I had hoped, but actual writing is still way more satisfying than fantasized writing. And please don’t take this as trolling for compliments – I’m enough of a narcissist to like my own writing and laugh at my own jokes. It’s just that fantasy writing doesn’t have mistakes, doesn’t elicit feedback (or a lack of feedback), and doesn’t force you to improve.
Early on after starting this blog, I looked around at other blogs to find like-minded travellers. What really struck me was the number of blogs that lasted less than a week. I know that many people who come here are maintaining their own blogs, and if you’re like me, you have days where you feel better about it than others. I totally understand why people drop their blogs because I came pretty close to doing it myself. So I think it’s worth giving ourselves a big Writing About Writing pat on the back for finding time to express ourselves regularly.
But there’s been unexpected value in sticking with it. I realized today that when I became seriously committed to writing every day I became more motivated to engage with more things like reading and movies. Unfortunately, my sorry record with email hasn’t gotten any better, and I hope my friends don’t take that personally. I think it might seem strange that I do this every day, but don’t write emails. I don’t know if I can explain that other than by saying that writing to my friends is often a reminder of how far from home I am, and that this blog has turned out to be a good coping mechanism.
Anyway, this is getting very close to using my Writing About Writing allotment for the year, so I’d better stop now. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be really angry about some petty cultural thing, as usual.
Anyway, I can understand why each individual writer finds it interesting to Write About Writing – people are naturally self-interested, although the degree varies across cultures. But when you look at the entire body of, say, popular movies, you end up with the interests of writers and filmmakers strongly represented, and the interests of other occupations, like labourers, poorly represented (cf. Ken Loach films). Writing About Writing reminds me of a metaphor that I was reminded of by the self-indulgence of Ocean’s Twelve. An old friend of mine once raised the idea of masturbating while watching a video tape of himself masturbating in front of a mirror watching himself masturbate. I am the only person I know who thinks this is funny, but I have to admit I think it’s hilarious (he was not being serious, in case you’re worried). And it’s not a bad metaphor for the sense I get when watching a film about filmmaking, or a story with a writer as the lead character.
Having said all of that, I have to say this writing gig has turned out to be quite different than I expected. For a long time, I have wanted to write on a regular basis. But, in retrospect, I also understand the comfort there was in believing I could write without actually doing it – I was able to maintain the positive self-conception without risking falsifying that belief. In the end, I’m not as good a writer as I had hoped, or at least not as much of a natural as I had hoped, but actual writing is still way more satisfying than fantasized writing. And please don’t take this as trolling for compliments – I’m enough of a narcissist to like my own writing and laugh at my own jokes. It’s just that fantasy writing doesn’t have mistakes, doesn’t elicit feedback (or a lack of feedback), and doesn’t force you to improve.
Early on after starting this blog, I looked around at other blogs to find like-minded travellers. What really struck me was the number of blogs that lasted less than a week. I know that many people who come here are maintaining their own blogs, and if you’re like me, you have days where you feel better about it than others. I totally understand why people drop their blogs because I came pretty close to doing it myself. So I think it’s worth giving ourselves a big Writing About Writing pat on the back for finding time to express ourselves regularly.
But there’s been unexpected value in sticking with it. I realized today that when I became seriously committed to writing every day I became more motivated to engage with more things like reading and movies. Unfortunately, my sorry record with email hasn’t gotten any better, and I hope my friends don’t take that personally. I think it might seem strange that I do this every day, but don’t write emails. I don’t know if I can explain that other than by saying that writing to my friends is often a reminder of how far from home I am, and that this blog has turned out to be a good coping mechanism.
Anyway, this is getting very close to using my Writing About Writing allotment for the year, so I’d better stop now. Hopefully, tomorrow, I’ll be really angry about some petty cultural thing, as usual.
posted by H. Now at 9:18 p.m.
5 Comments:
How is writing about writing any more self indulgent than writing about anything else that interests you? There aren't really any rules anywhere that say 'this is what your blog should be about....
it's a good point. my aversion to writing about writing is really more a reaction to the number of stories about writing and films about films - to me, they often represent an empathy defecit for the concerns of others. So writer's block is represented as terribly painful, but a ton of voice gets given to writer's block and much less to things like poverty. i guess it seems classist to me, in its totality, and i don't want to contribute to that.
i guess it's my belief that a reader is more interested in the product than the process. i'm reminded of when i did a show at the college radio station, and the managers had to put up a sign to get DJs to stop talking about the new eqipment in the studio. you can understand why the eqipment was interesting to the DJ, and why it would be completely uninteresting to the listener. it becomes a tragedy of the commons problem where as each new DJ returns to the shiny new eqipment, the station's listeners get more and more turned off.
i guess in the end it depends on the interests of your audience, and your accuracy in assessing the extent to which you share those interests. The average movie goer isn't a filmmaker, so it seems indulgent to have so many films about films. on the other hand, the average reader of this blog (given its small-time nature) may well be a writer, so i may have more liberty here.
Two things: your last point about the readers here most likely being writers I think is probably quite accurate.
Second - college radio stations always have to do those things. On the other hand, if there were any skilled DJs there, they could have worked in a reference to new equipment that would have been entertaining to listeners. It's just that the vast majority of college DJs aren't skilled. Which is why they need remedial instruction. So if you're equating your blog with shitty college radio DJs, which of us taking preemptive protective measures now?? :-)
too easy. that would be me. it's an old family survival strategy. see post re: sickness for necessary background.
What made you decide to write a blog rather than in a journal?
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