is two guys collaborating to write on writing and collaboration.
Monday
Jan 23, 2006
In A World -- Thoughts on the Process posted by kza
Some random thoughts on what we just did….
On idea length: As you noticed, my entries (and yours as well) started to get longer the more we did them. Honestly, I’m not 100% happy with that — I still think there’s something to be said for an idea that can be expressed simply and concisely. Of course, I’m not making any arguments that the first ideas are better because they’re shorter — clearly they aren’t — but at times I wished I could’ve found a way to keep them even more bite-sized. For me, there was one big reason why they were getting longer: because I was relying on some outside source (songs, images) for inspiration, I found myself at a loss as to what to say, and while the earlier ones were simply a flash of a good idea jotted down quickly, these later ones were literally written word by word, without any idea of where the hell they’d end up. (This is particularly true of your favorite, The Scabs, as well as Chimerica and Reminiscence, and you can probably tell with that last one.) That’s why they’re long, and that’s probably why they’re deeper, more detailed, and perhaps better.
On your “favorites” list: I suspect I was more shocked by your list than you were with mine — if you look at the numbers, as your Top 8 goes up, my numbers go down. I’m genuinely shocked by the high placement of The Scabs and Rachel My Dear. (Have you even heard that song?) (Actually, have you heard of any of the songs from that list?) Speaking of which…
On “The Interpreter”: Goddam you and your iTunes! Roky’s my all-time fave and because of the whole new computer cock-up, Roky ain’t on this laptop. I’ve always wanted to write something based on it (I had a vague idea for a play back in my Humboldt days). Of course, mine woulda been a completely different thing, but yours is fantastic as well — but maybe I should save it for the playoffs… :-) (Oh, and that was the only song I knew from your list.)
On “The Angry Youth”: These words either mean everything or nothing to you: “Stevie Washington. The angry youth. Born to die. New York’s New York. The turn of the century. All crime.”
On the playoffs: Thing here is, while there are a couple matchups I could just pick a winner right now, the majority of them are dead heats. And round one: my two #1 choices! Aaarrgh! It’s not fair, it’s not faaaiir…
Round One, coming up!
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