Time to Write

Why is writer Charlie Kaufman like a lonely slug?

A recent Boston Globe interview by Ty Burr with film writer Charlie Kaufman has one of the more interesting opening sentences I’ve ever encountered: “Interviewing Charlie Kaufman is like sprinkling salt on a slug.” (Apparently Kaufman hates being interviewed, but he was promoting his film, Synecdoche, New York, which he directed as well as wrote. His answer regarding the difference between being a writer and being a director also explains why I never went into directing:

“I like writing but it's very lonely sometimes, and it requires a lot of discipline. It's the opposite of pragmatic, and directing is enormously pragmatic. It's also very structured. I mean, [as a director] every moment I know exactly where I'm supposed to be, and if I forget there's someone there to tell me. And it's managerial, so I have to figure out how to talk to people on an individual basis. It's not like there's one way to talk to actors; they're all different. I also have to let go of my natural personality traits, which are sulking and moodiness, and kind of become an adult, because that's required.”

 He also mentions that he couldn’t get a job for 11 years after graduating and that for a couple of years people in the business read and admired “Being John Malkovich” but told him it could never be made.

Should You Write a Novel in a Month? My Solution.

Subscriber Frank Lestrosse sent me an email asking whether I think it's a good idea to participate in the "write a novel in a month" exercise that comes around every November. Yes and no (I'll be more specific in a moment!). Here are the positive aspects:

* It forces you to focus on your writing

* If you are precious about the number of words you can write in a session, this will help you overcome that

* If you do it along with friends in your area or online, it can be fun

Here are the negative aspects:

*  If you start and then stop, you may feel worse about yourself 

* The novel is not likely to be very good--frankly I doubt that it will be good enough to use as the basis of a rewrite that will eventually be good enough, but I could be wrong

* It uses up time that you could be spending on a project more likely to have a good outcome

My suggested solution:

* Tell people you are taking part, and ask them to help give you the writing time you need for it

* Put in the same amount of time you'd spend if you were actually writing an entire novel, but...

* Secretly (or openly) use the time to plot a novel and get done only as much as you can without a loss of quality. In practice, this may mean spending the first two weeks just plotting, the third week fleshing out your characters, and the final week writing the first chapter

* When people ask whether you managed to write the 50,000 words that the exercise expects, say no but you are really happy with what you achieved

* Take advantage of the momentum you have created for your book and continue to write a reasonable number of hours per week until it's done.

Good luck, and if you need some guidance, get a copy of my book, YOUR WRITING COACH, published by Nicholas Brealey. 

George Lois Creative Video

George Lois has been one of my heroes since the days of his great "Esquire" covers, and some years ago I had the pleasure of interviewing him in New York. He's got a brand new book out on "the big idea"--I haven't read it yet, but will come back with a short review when I have. 

In the meantime, here's a link to an interesting short (under ten minutes) video interview with him done by Advertising Age: George Lois video interview. Among other things, he talks about his creative influences and the kinds of things he thinks people need to do and see in order to stimulate their own creativity.