So I was interviewed on the news last night, tweaking The City of Windsor, my dastardly arch nemesis. ZING! I carved a great I for Inklings upon the villain's chest with my rapier wit.
Okay, I didn't actually see the interview, so I may have actually looked like a doofus. And sounded worse. Though I refuse to admit that I was bested by The City of Windsor!
But the interesting thing was really doing the interview. I actually found myself analyzing how I talked even as I did it. It was a little odd... a little meta-narrative running through my head, critiquing and planning even as I spoke. A little bit out-of-body, if you know what I mean. I found myself thinking about word choice and sentence structure, about the rhythm of the language. Almost like writing dialogue... what would this character say? What's the best way to convey the mood?
Except, you know, the character was me. Standing in front of a camera. So... rapier wit? Or doofus? I'm not sure I want to know. But it was interesting from a writer's standpoint, a sort of self-conscious understanding of my own speech in progress.
Makes me think about times when real life and the writing life bleed together. We have odd brains, we writers. Has that ever happened to you? Where the writer in you has superimposed itself over the normal you? That is, if there is such a thing as a writing you and a real you... WhoooOOOoooOOOooo... WhoooOOOoooOOOooo...
(Halloween is coming, you know. Sound effects are needed)
17 comments:
Arrrr! Skewer those dastards! :)
I have found myself lately ascribing my mood and setting as if I'm in a book. I was driving home from work the other day and had a weird thought, and then I started adding beats and tags to it ", she thought as the sky overhead opened up and poured forth the answer. . ." etc.
It's been a weird week because of stuff like that.
Yeah, that's the feeling...
Try scripting a job interview!
Then I went in there and it was like looking at a blank piece of paper - all the words just forgot to form themselves.
So much for living like a character I've written.
Where can we get a copy to see this interview? Be fun to see the man behind the myth :)
Bane,
It's locked in a vault with the missing sequences of the Zapruder film.
And, I should mention, I much liked your paragraph in the contest. Very tight, and I like how you didn't overplay the hook.
Donna,
I hear you. I might have to be doing some of that myself soon... Ick.
Bryan - the City of Windsor better watch out. I'm sure this is only the start - the gauntlet has been thrown.
Go get 'em.
And I'll pay money to see this interview.
Skimming through the paragraphs again on Nathan's contest I stopped on your submission. Very creepy.
I liked it a lot.
.......dhole
Mira,
If I vanish, you'll know The City of Windsor's response...
Thanks, Donna!
Creepy is good. It's supposed to be a little mesmerizing and creepy. But apparently there's lots of dead bodies in opening paragraphs. Bloodthirsty lot! Makes me want to change it a little, though mine is going to a very different place than those thrillers with discovered bodies. Still...
I know what you mean about out-of-body experiences! I speak in front of a camera all the time (elected official) and I find myself turning phrases in my head before hand. Then the time comes and I'm delivering the lines and critiquing as I go . . . and dare I say throwing in a little humor along the way?
p.s. I promise I'm not on the City of Windsor Council . . .
Susan,
You had me worried there for a minute... but you're obviously intelligent, so that pretty much rules you out for any position in Windsor.
Good luck taking on the city, Ink.
I just found your paragraph. Very well done and just the right mix of mysterious and creepy to make me want more.
It took me forever to find it, by the way. I was in Disneyland during most of the contest so there was no way I could keep up as they were being posted.
Sesquipedalian,
You are brave, I say! Very brave. The bards shall weave ballads of your courage. That is many paragraphs to wade through...
And thank you. I kind of like that opening... but I hesitate now because it might get confused with all the thrillers beginning with the discovery of dead bodies. Which apparently are plentiful!
I feel the same about my beginning, Ink. Well, besides the fact that I think it needs some reworking to bring through more of the main character's voice, it starts off sounding like it might be another one of those thriller's and it absolutely is not. Yet I want to start off with something that really pulls the reader in. It is rather a dilemma.
Oh, and I can't wait to hear those ballads.
I shall talk to all the bards I know...
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