Douglas

March 23, 2008March 23, 2008

Challenging Inspiration

For some this may be NSFW.

The trip to Stillwater last evening was bookended with Kid Rock’s “Cocky” set on repeat play. One of the characters from my unwritten fantasy novel is based on Kid Rock as evidenced by this album–specifically the title track. He needs work.

I stumbled on my desire to do a literal translation of Kid Rock into a traditional fantasy character. In much the same way that minerals replace organic material to fossilize a bone or petrify wood I proceeded to replace Kid Rock’s traits with appropriate ones from my nascent [pause to confirm I know what nascent meant] world.

Rapping became a style of knife fighting never officially called ‘trapping’. I probably could pull that graceless term off in the context of the story but still, not pretty.

Then I got stuck on replacing the lyrics. I didn’t plan of Stet singing or speaking while he was ‘trapping’ but I did want his normal demeanor to include the poetic vulgarity that I assume permeates Kid Rock’s persona. I’ve never seen a single author translate curse words into their world in a believably offensive way. “Pussy and blow. You know how I live. Can’t say that Kid. Fuck off, I just did,” just doesn’t stand up to speculative word replacement for the shock and awe it imposes on a reader. So now I’m left to use language in a book that I’ve never read in a novel and I doubt is super-great for getting published. Place derailed and abandoned train here.

Maybe I need to embrace my inner sailor and just write it with all the offensive language and womanizing. Maybe my fantasy doesn’t get to have sensitive princes and doting wizards. Maybe I get middle fingers and potty mouths.

Word count: 284
Day 194

March 21, 2008

Stupid Title #7

I had big plans for today’s writing. I even tested a few thoughts out at 5 in the morning while I was awake after feeding my daughter. It’s funny that I even plan things anymore.

My brain isn’t in the sharp focus I’d like it to be in order to write short dialogue. I’m not interested in working it up to that lather this late in the evening. Instead, I’ll prolong the mellow with a book.

Day 193

March 20, 2008

Speaking of Coupling

Yesterday was not what I’d planned. I meant to write about the dialogue of Coupling. Watching Star Wars: Episode II last night reminded me. It turns out that no matter how much glamor you throw up on the screen to dazzle the audience, you can still fail big because you can’t get the right words into an actor’s mouth. Hell, in some case back out. In some cases those three movies were like a high school musical with a sixty million dollar budget.

Coupling’s conversations remind me of a writing trope: an essay should be like a skirt; long enough to cover the subject, short enough to maintain interest. In the case of this program I’d say they were cutting the hemline to something more like a thong and a pair of pasties. Or maybe more accurately in the style of Benny Hill simply having a naked person walk through a scene and be strategically and timely covered up with fitting props. However one might try to imagine the dialogue it’s good.

I hear many writers complain that they can’t write speech well. Maybe they agonize over making men sound like men and women like women. Or maybe they miss the mark when it comes to teen slang. Or maybe all their Elizabethans sound like Valley Girls–or worse Victorians. It’s a common sticking place for many writers.

Any book about writing creatively contains a chapter on dialogue. Listen to speech in the wild. Record and transcribe a conversation. Go to the mall or the park. Read good dialogue. Don’t clutter your speech with stage direction or clumsy backstory, but still propel the story forward.

I’ve never thought much about my dialogue. I suspect I should. It stands to reason that not having written it much, I don’t know how to it well.

A brief exchange on a recent episode of New Amsterdam on Fox made me realize how much you could put into a scene with just the spoken word. An exchange in the servants’ quarters between the master and the coachman quickly uncovers a history of rape and a hint of coming justice. It wasn’t the first scene in the series of flashbacks, but it could have stood alone with very little more added.

Next time I will be employing the Five Times technique to some dialogue to explore what I can come up with.

Word count: 932
Day 192